Milestone 2,000th emergency call out for SCAA

A man with a life-threatening condition prompted the landmark 2,000th rapid response from Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) this week.

The country's only charity-funded helicopter air ambulance was scrambled from its central base at Perth Airport when the crew of Helimed 76 received a call to attend to a male patient in Stranraer.

Once the helicopter and crew arrived with the Emergency Medical Retrieval Service team from the Scottish Ambulance Service, the patient was assessed and stabilised before SCAA airlifted the patient for advanced hospital  are at Ayr Hospital in under 20 minutes – a journey by road would have taken nearly 90 minutes.

The charity's 2,000th response to time-critical emergencies across the whole of Scotland comes as SCAA embarks on a £6 million fundraising drive to launch a second charity-funded helicopter air ambulance - this time based at Aberdeen.

Firmly established as a key element of Scotland's nationwide emergency response network, SCAA plays a key role in pre-hospital care in cases of serious or critical illness and injury.

Commenting on the milestone mission, SCAA Chief Executive David Craig described it as "a tremendous achievement" for the charity. And he wished the patient a speedy recovery and issued an open invitation for him to visit the base and crew who attended him.

"Over the years we have helped to save and improve the lives of hundreds of people in extreme situations who require urgent emergency care," he said. "The fact that SCAA has been called on 2,000 times shows the value of the service which is funded entirely by public donation and we can't thank all the people, businesses and communities whose support fuels our life-saving flights.

"With the continued support of the people of Scotland, we will be there to complete the next thousand calls for help - and beyond," added Mr Craig. "With our second aircraft we will be able to continue saving and improving even more lives in every part of Scotland."

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