Welsh Heartlands Vintage AutoFest

We are delighted to support the   WALES AIR AMBULANCE  financially from the hoped for profit from our festival in 2007.

The Wales Air  Ambulance  is an all Wales charity providing a vital service through emergency air cover for those who face life-threatening illness or injuries since 2001.  They operate from three bases as you can see from the map and despite the popular misconception that the WAA simply responds to mountain climbers and walkers who get injured in Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons and other rural beauty spots.

In reality, about 40 per cent of all its missions are to road traffic collisions, and these, unfortunately, occur all over Wales. 

The paramedics are all employed by the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust, and work on the air ambulance on shifts lasting between three and four days; when they are not flying they work at ambulance stations throughout Wales.

 The Code names for our Air Ambulances are:

Helimed 57 – Swansea (launched March 2001)
Helimed 59 – Welshpool (launched June 2006)
Helimed 61 – Caernarfon (launched July 2003)

Who calls the Air Ambulance out?

In Wales, we have four ambulance controls, which are located in Llanfairfechan, Pontypool, Church village and Carmarthen.When somebody calls 999 for an ambulance, the call goes straight to the ambulance control. The person on the end of the phone will ask the caller a number of questions relating to the medical emergency.

They will ask where the person is calling from, the nature of the emergency and a description of the injuries.

The person at ambulance control will then make a decision on whether to call out the air ambulance or not – all depending on what they are told by the caller.

Once ambulance control has decided to request the air ambulance, they make a direct call to one of our airbases.

The helicopter can respond very quickly to a 999 call, and can be in the air and ready to go within three minutes of the call being made.

In many cases, local paramedics will request the air ambulance. This can happen when they get to the scene of a medical emergency and realise the patient’s injuries are far worse than first suspected. The paramedics on the ground will contact ambulance control and request the air ambulance to transport the patient to hospital quickly.

A member of the public cannot call out the air ambulance directly.