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A Brief History | Page 1/3 |
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| Cornwall's Air Ambulance when introduced in the Spring of 1987 became the first dedicated helicopter emergency medical service (EMS) to operate in the United Kingdom. It was by no means, however, the first airborne service of its kind in the world, nor the first British Air Ambulance to fly: some seventy years, in fact! For almost as long as powered flight had become a reality in the early years of this century, the immense potential for aircraft to transport goods and people at speed over long distances and with little regard for terrain, was soon recognised. Even before the First World War a Dutchman named deMooy, who was Chief combatants. To counteract this he devised a huge stretcher which was to be suspended beneath a balloon and drawn along by horses | |
| During the Great War the first true Air Ambulance flight was made when a Serbian Officer was flown from the battle field to hospital by a place of the French Air Service. Records kept mortality rate among the wounded would fall from 60 per cent to less than 10per cent - a staggering reduction! |
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The first recorded British Ambulance Flight took place in1917 in Turkey when a soldier in the Camel Corp who had been shot in the ankle was flown to hospital in a de-havilland DHH in 45 minutes. The same journey by land would have taken some 3 days to complete. In the 1920's several services, both official and unofficial started up in various parts of the world. In Queensland, Australia, a plane hired from Quantas at the rate of 2 shillings (10p) per mile became operational in 1928. The aircraft was a de Havilland model 50 with a cruising speed of 80 miles an hour and fuel consumption of some 8 to 10 miles per gallon. It carried a pilot, doctor and nurse and also had room on board for one stretcher patient. In its first year the de Havilland made fifty mercy flights covering approximately 20,000 miles to treat 225 patients for various illnesses and injuries. It was claimed that the lives of 25 people had been saved, thanks to the medical care provided by what subsequently became known as "The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia" and renowned the world over. |
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