The Air Ambulance lands at the Royal London hospital in London
(Picture: PA)A record number of victims of stabbings and shootings received critical care from London’s Air Ambulance medics last year, new figures revealed on Thursday.
The charity was dispatched to 595 “penetrating trauma” incidents - 35 per cent of the 1,713 emergency missions it attended in 2021.
This was up from 529 stabbings and shootings in 2020 and also higher than the previous record of 560 in 2018.
The figures give a different illustration of the extent of violent crime in London as they include hundreds of people who survived attacks due to early medical intervention.
The air ambulance’s advance trauma teams - an emergency doctor and paramedic - are trained to perform life-saving interventions at the roadside to give victims the best chance of survival.
Its medics are employed by the NHS and are dispatched to life-critical incidents by the London Ambulance Service control room.
LAA, which needs to generate about £10m a year in donations, needs to raise £15m to replace its two helicopters by 2024. An appeal is due to be launched in the Autumn.
Crews, who are based at the Royal London hospital, in Whitechapel, can reach an incident anywhere in London in less than 11 minutes by air. It uses fast-response cars after dark but its new helicopters will be equipped for night-time flying.
Penetrating trauma incidents, which can also include people who have impaled themselves, has accounted for more missions than road traffic collisions since 2018.
Last year LAA responded to 389 road victims, plus 379 falls from height and 350 other incidents including rail incidents, industrial accidents, drownings and medical emergencies such as cardiac arrest.
The youngest patient was six months old and the oldest 93.
LAA was founded in 1989. Advances in care mean it can perform open heart surgery and blood transfusions out of a hospital setting.
Dr Tom Hurst, LAA medical director, said: “Trauma can affect anyone – without any warning an ordinary day can become the worst day of that person’s life.
“Our job is to make sure that when that happens we can get to that patient as quickly as possible to perform the most cutting-edge treatments that will give them the best chance of survival.”
Jonathan Jenkins, LAA chief executive, said 89 per cent of its income came from charitable donations. It is facing a £6m shortfall due to a loss of fundraising during the pandemic.
“London has always backed us in our hour of need but we need the support of Londoners now more than ever to keep our service flying, so that we can be there for all those patients that need us.”
