Cornwall Air Ambulance - First Air Ambulance Service Trust

The control centre for the Westcountry Ambulance Service is currently located at Exeter and is manned twenty four hours a day, everyday, throughout the year.

It is here that the decisions are made regarding ambulance mobilisation for the three counties of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, in response to 999 calls.

The decision is made by the Cornwall Controller as to whether the patient should go by land ambulance, or be flown to hospital on the Air Ambulance helicopter. The Duty Controller has only seconds to consider the information the caller has given before deciding what would be the best means of responding to the emergency.

There are various factors which need to be taken into account before making the decision of whether to activate the Air Ambulance as the primary response to that particular incident.

1. The patient's condition; Does the nature of the injury or illness described by the caller suggest that the patient would derive greatest benefit from hospitalisation by the Air Ambulance? Are there any aspects of their condition which may make them unsuitable for transportation by helicopter?

2. The location of the incident; Some locations, such as beaches, hilltops and isolated farmland may be more easily accessible by air. Densely populated urban areas may be better reached by land ambulance.

3. What is the fastest means of response? The Ambulance Service is committed to respond to an emergency (999) call by the fastest means, in terms of time, available to them. If the Air Ambulance is able to reach the scene quicker than any other resource, then assuming the constraints regarding patient suitability and access by air are met, the helicopter will be dispatched to deal with the incident.

4. Provision of area cover; On occasion the Air Ambulance may be asked to convey a patient in order that a land ambulance can be left in the area to provide sufficient cover for any subsequent emergency which may arise.

When a 999 call is received the Control Staff take all the relevant information on a computer. The Duty Controller will also monitor the message as it comes in and as soon as he has identified the general area and type of incident will select and activate an ambulance. The full details are then passed to the crew by radio en-route. Some callers may have little or no information concerning the incident and on occasions all they know is that someone has asked them to "phone for an ambulance".

In these circumstances the Duty Controller must send the nearest vehicle on a "time of response" basis and then await further information from the scene via another caller or the ambulance crew when they arrive.

Many parts of the South West are remote. The Westcountry Ambulance Service attend most public shows in the region, issuing people with grid reference labels. The label can be stuck to a phone so it is easily available and can be quoted should they ever need the assistance of the emergency services. This helps to pinpoint their location more easily.