Need for our charity is greater than ever before

A total of 341 patients were transferred to local hospitals (up from 292 in 2023), the majority of which to Royal United Hospital, Bath (109), Southmead Hospital, Bristol (82) and Great Western Hospital, Swindon (72). 

Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance Charity’s dedicated aircrew, consisting of pilots, critical care paramedics and doctors, are operational up to 19 hours a day all year round. During 2024 they attended, on average, four daily missions.  

The Charity’s helicopter was deployed for 619 (46%) of the missions, with the remaining 724 incidents attended by critical care cars. 

Cardiac emergencies accounted for the highest number of call outs (326), representing around a quarter of all missions. Other incidents included 287 medical emergencies, 190 road traffic collisions, 72 sporting incidents, and 58 assaults. 

A total of 182 incidents involved children, while 32% of all missions (438) took place at night. 

Doctors were on board for more than half (51%) of all missions attended, an increase from 33% in the previous 12 months.

Chief executive David Philpott said: “It’s sad to report that demand for our medical expertise rose significantly across Wiltshire and Bath during the past year.  

In late 2024 the Charity rebranded to include Bath in its name to better reflect its operational area.  

Mr Philpott added: “For the first time, we attended over 100 missions in Bath in a single calendar year. This represents around nine per cent of all 2024 missions and once again demonstrates the importance of our work to the city.”  

The aircrew were also tasked to incidents outside their primary operational area, including in counties such as the City of Bristol, Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset and Wales. In total, 23% of the incidents were outside of Wiltshire and Bath.