Wales Air Ambulance is not designed to meet ambulance response times. When it comes to our specialist service, it is important to remember the following points:

  • We are a pan-Wales service    

Any comment about increased response times because of a base move assumes that we are coming from one particular base. In reality, an incident could be attended by any one of our Wales Air Ambulance crews, regardless of where they are in Wales.  

Our service is not about where we come from, it is about where we go, the vital treatments that we deliver at the scene, and taking patients directly to the healthcare facility that caters for their specialist needs. 

  • We are not designed to be the first on scene  

Our Welsh Ambulance Service colleagues are usually on scene before us and will offer the initial emergency treatments. Our involvement is secondary when we arrive and deliver the advanced hospital standard treatments.  

So, while the speed of response is important when considering life and limb-threatening illness or injury, Wales Air Ambulance is not there to provide a primary response to these incidents, that role remains with the Welsh Ambulance Service.  

  • We already save a significant amount of time for a patient to receive specialist care   

It is also important to remember that by delivering hospital-standard treatments at the scene and taking the patient directly to specialist care, we already save a significant amount of time – hours in some cases – for the patient to receive the right treatment.  

Of course, our service needs to be timely but shaving minutes and seconds off response times is not clinically necessary. We have proved that our attendance significantly improves a patient’s chances of survival and long-term recovery – and it is important to recognise that this improvement is in comparison with standard ambulance/hospital admission cases. This is why it is important to ensure that rural and urban parts of Wales alike can benefit from our skills and expertise.