WHO WE ARE

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Magazine e c n la u b m A S erset Air m o LD BE YOUR S U O d C n IT a Y t A e D s or ONE The Official D GETHER WE HELP SAVE LIVES| ,2023 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk TO

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FOREWORD

Welcome he last few years have certainly been challenging for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, as indeed it has been for healthcare across the whole country. During those challenging times, and thanks to your support, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance has increased the number of missions we attend and reached more patients than ever, because of the pre-hospital critical care and enhanced care we provide. Despite that success, we are not standing still, or resting on our laurels in any way. During the first part of 2023, we have been turning our attention to the future, to identify the challenges and opportunities ahead, so that we can make sure that we can be there when patients need us the most. Our clinical and aviation teams are continually looking at how to give even more excellent care and exploring ways of reaching every patient in need of help. Other members of the team challenge

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themselves to make sure that we receive the funds we need to keep operational and that we are careful with the money that is given to us by our supporters, so that we have the financial stability to continue delivering our life-saving work for many years to come. There is no better evidence of our life-saving work than hearing from those who have needed our service. Some of these patients have shared their incredible journeys with us all within this edition of Beeline. These inspire our team to always do more and I personally thank them for allowing us to share their stories with you.

Published by: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Landacre House, Castle Road, Chelston Business Park, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 9JQ. Tel: 01823 669604 Email: [email protected] www.dsairambulance.org.uk Registered Charity Number: 1078685

Lottery office: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Unit 3, Brook Road Industrial Estate, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 2BH. Tel: 01202 849530

Charles Hackett Chief Executive Officer Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance

Editor: Tracy Bartram Assistant Editor: Lara Battersby Designer: Anthony Collins Production Editor: Claire Robinson Front cover image: Dan Kitteridge © 2023. The entire contents of this publication are protected by copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA). The reproduction of advertisements in this publication does not in any way imply endorsement by DSAA of products or services referred to therein.

If you currently receive a copy of our magazine or other communications from the Charity, please be assured that your details will not be passed on to third parties, unless it is to support the charitable objectives of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. We never sell your data and we will never share it with another company or charity for marketing purposes. If you no longer wish to receive these communications, you can ‘Opt Out’ at any time by contacting us via the following means: Tel: 01823 669604 Email: [email protected] Post: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Landacre House, Castle Road, Chelston Business Park, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 9JQ

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CONTENTS

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Contents 3 Welcome

A letter from our Chief Executive Officer

WHO WE ARE 6 About us

Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is your service, provided for people in your area, with your support

WHAT WE DO 8 Clinical services

DSAA continues to support the NHS and advocate for patients and their families across the region

10 Clinical governance

Clinical governance is an overarching framework, which covers the activities that help to assure, sustain and improve high standards of patient care

12 From the cockpit

Insights from our Unit Chief Pilot, Mario Carretta

13 Views and locations

A gallery of images showing amazing views from the air and locations on the ground

14 Note from the Chair

Our Chair of Trustees, Gillian Bryce, reflects on the past six months

OUR PATIENTS 15 “We were told that he had a 10% chance of survival” 4

Harry Hollowell was close to death after being crushed by a 10-tonne telehandler

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18 “The stars aligned for me that day”

When Stephanie Lehmann suffered a cardiac arrest, being flown to hospital saved precious time

19 “The sound of an approaching helicopter brought me such great relief”

Sam Snowdon suffered a serious fall while climbing

20 “It was the scariest moment ever”

When two-year-old Bertie Coles became unwell at home, it was a terrifying experience for everyone around him

22 Tamsyn, a patient revisited

We catch up with Tamsyn Berry, who sustained life- changing injuries in a road traffic incident

NEWS

24 Success at Air Ambulance Awards of Excellence

Members of our amazing team were recognised nationally at this year’s ceremony, winning two categories and being highly commended in one 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

CONTENTS

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26 New Lottery Superdraw

38 Great support for Coast to Coast





Our new Superdraw takes place annually and gives you a chance of winning a one-off prize of £2,500

27 You have your say

The results of our Beeline and supporter survey

Registration is open for our annual cycling event

39 HELP Appeal donation lights us up

IN THE COMMUNITY



28 In the community

39 Burnham on Sea Motor Club





Thank you to all the people who have supported us with their fundraising efforts

HOW PEOPLE HELP 34 Flight for Life Lottery Grand Draw The results of our 2022 Grand Christmas Draw

35 Christmas at Nutley Farm raises £10,467

We are extremely grateful for a generous donation that will fund runway lights, helipad lighting and a new windsock

The club has supported DSAA generously over the years and shows no signs of slowing down!

HOW YOU CAN HELP

40 Open Gardens

This summer, members of the public will be opening up their gardens to help raise money

42 Race from the Base



The 2022 Nutley Farm Christmas Lights and Reindeer Experience was a great event

36 5K Twilight Shift a flying success

44 How to make a difference



Over 100 people took part in our first 5K event, either running, walking or jogging the route around Henstridge Airfield



37 A spectacular ‘Mission Possible’ gala ball

A gala ball in October raised over £36,000 for us

37 SPS support

Staff at Somerset Passenger Solutions held a variety of fundraising events

38 Santa divers raise funds for charity

Almost 100 hardy divers braved the icy water in Vobster Quay to raise funds for DSAA



Your donation really does make a difference

45 A gift for the future

By leaving a gift in your Will today, you will be helping to save lives

45 Are you looking for a Charity of the year?

We hope that you might consider us a worthy cause

46 Other great ways to support us

There are so many ways you can help us

LETTERS

47 Postbag

@dsairambulance

Gear up for our brand new event – an ultra-cycling challenge!

You have your say 5

ABOUT US

About us The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is YOUR service – provided for people in YOUR area – with YOUR support ince March 2000, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) has been there for critically ill and injured people when they need us the most. With no direct funding from the Government or the National Lottery, we rely on the generosity of the public for support. Our operational costs are over £5 million a year and the approximate cost of one mission is £3,000. The enhanced skills of our team, specialist equipment and drugs that we carry, along with the speed of our response, can make the difference between life and death.

We are tasked as part of the ‘999’ emergency process by a dedicated Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) desk located at Ambulance Control (paid for by the South West Air Ambulance Charities). Our airbase is situated at Henstridge Airfield on the Dorset/Somerset border. From there, we can be at any point in the two counties in less than 20 minutes. More importantly, the helicopter can, if required, then take a patient to the nearest Major Trauma Centre in the South West within a further 20 minutes.

Operations

Our cohort of clinicians includes a mixture of senior emergency physicians, intensive care consultants and anaesthetists, critical care nurses and specialist practitioners in critical care. When responding to incidents by air, we provide a critical care team consisting of at least a doctor, specialist practitioner and two pilots for each mission. The doctors are predominately drawn

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We operate 19 hours a day (7.00am - 2.00am) providing a critical care service, using our AgustaWestland 169 (AW169) helicopter and critical care car. We also provide an enhanced care service using two outreach cars (one based in Dorset and one based in Somerset) between 10.00am - 10.00pm. 6

Providing critical care

www.dsairambulance.org.uk

ABOUT US

Trustees DSAA is controlled by a Board of Trustees embracing a balanced spectrum of skills and experience, including healthcare, aviation, legal, business, finance, the Armed Forces, charities and local affairs. Trustees are appointed in accordance with the DSAA constitution, in line with a defined procedure and fulfil their responsibilities in accordance with clearly defined and approved Terms of Reference. The Board comprises a Chair and up to 12 other trustees.

Volunteers

from NHS Hospital Trusts across the region and the practitioners are from the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT). Some clinicians have joined us from further afield, broadening the skills and experience of the team.

Supporting patients and their families Our patient and family liaison nurses provide support to patients who have been treated by our team and can answer questions they might have about their pre-hospital care. They also provide links with patient support services and other charities aligned with the patient’s condition, while encouraging peer support links with other similarly injured patients.

The charity is extremely well supported by over 100 volunteers spread across Dorset and Somerset, who contribute unpaid time to our fundraising activities. They perform a wide range of invaluable duties on behalf of the charity, including servicing our collection boxes, giving talks, supporting events and manning information/merchandise stalls. Our volunteers are the eyes, ears and voices of DSAA within the communities we serve and their interaction with the public helps to raise awareness and funds in support of our work. They also provide us with an excellent feedback mechanism, which helps to shape our approach to volunteering and fundraising.

Staff/Offices The charity has a small team of 20 full/part-time staff (17 full time equivalent). We have two offices; one located in Wellington (Somerset) and the other in Wimborne (Dorset).

Pilots

Supporting organisations

Our pilots are provided by Specialist Aviation Services Ltd, who operate our aircraft. The pilots come from varying backgrounds, but the aircraft commanders are highly experienced and carefully selected because air ambulance flights are more challenging than regular non-emergency flight services.

DSAA is committed to maintaining the highest standards of fundraising behaviour and adhering to the standards set by the Fundraising Regulator. We are also a member of Air Ambulances UK (AAUK), the national organisation representing, supporting and advocating the life-saving work of the UK’s 21 air ambulance services.

@dsairambulance

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JAMES PENBERTHY

WHAT WE DO

Clinical services Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) continues to support the NHS and advocate for patients and their families across the region or some patients, the care that DSAA provides is life changing. Maintaining a charity funded, critical care service within NHS governance requires significant investment in professional time and activity. Our hard-working team continuously push and develop themselves to improve DSAA’s operational capability. Three members of our team were recognised nationally back in November at the Air Ambulance Awards of

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Excellence. Congratulations to Ian Mew, Wayne Busby and Pete Appleby for this hugely deserved recognition. These awards not only highlight their contribution to the care of the people of Dorset and Somerset, but reflect on the activity of the whole charity team. You can read more about these awards on page 24. Looking ahead, we are striving to reach more patients than ever and looking to find new ways of utilising our incredible critical care delivery system to greater efficiency, for the people of Dorset and Somerset. Our clinicians, pilots and our engineer recognise that DSAA provides a unique opportunity to advocate for patients and are thankful to the public for enabling this. They know that without charity funding there would be no such critical care capability across our two counties.

Injury prevention Injury prevention remains a significant focus for DSAA and many of our team are involved with initiatives that support this important topic, specifically in the areas of Young Drivers (through the Safe Drive, Stay Alive initiative, led by the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service), Water Safety (alongside our colleagues at the RNLI) and Motorcyclists (through our partnership with DocBike). A review of the ‘Farmer Down’ initiative is also 8

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

WHAT WE DO underway to assess the future direction of this important advocacy. Injury prevention was a key topic at this year’s Air Ambulances UK National Conference in November. Dr Ian Mew delivered an exceptional presentation about collaborative injury prevention and challenged all air ambulance charities to actively step towards the subject. Ian described the rationale for reducing injuries and used DocBike and many of the other DSAA injury prevention initiatives to exemplify what is possible. The conference presentation provided a significant opportunity to increase collaboration across air ambulance charities, to magnify the impact of injury prevention within the UK.

Decision support DSAA has continued to advocate for increased regional investment in the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) Desk and actively contributes to the ongoing review of the HEMS desk utilisation. A data review of tasking is underway, (supported by DSAA’s lead research practitioner), which intends to support the identification of patients who could benefit from the care that we provide, but are not currently identified by the existing tasking system.

Outreach Over the past six months, our outreach team have continued to develop multi-modal outreach within Dorset and Somerset. Our outreach cars are now operational across both counties, providing an enhanced care service with a practitioner (critical care paramedic or nurse) for 12 hours a day, every day of the week. The number of incidents that the Somerset car has been called to support has substantially increased and the content of the support being provided is incredibly beneficial to the Somerset population. We are extremely proud to be delivering excellent care to critically ill and injured adults and children, guided and delivered by our critical care practitioners and outreach cars. Another great example of outreach is our relationship with Bournemouth University. At their request, our clinicians have been delivering teaching sessions to student paramedics. This collaboration provides a fantastic opportunity to engage with the paramedics of the future within our region.

We are delighted to welcome (from left to right) Chloe Riley, Sam Rutherford and Gabrielle Norman to our patient and family liaison team

Inter-hospital transfers We continue to provide time-critical, inter-hospital transport support for adults and children within Dorset and Somerset and the broader South West. A number of patients have benefited from this service over the last six months. DSAA has provided the critical care needed and enabled patients to get to a definitive point of care, as safely and quickly as possible.

Patient and family liaison Following a rigorous selection process, we are delighted to welcome Chloe Riley, Gabrielle Norman and Sam Rutherford, who join our patient and family liaison team. All three, joined Kirsty Caswell and Jo Petheram in October for a comprehensive induction programme and have been co-ordinating closely to continue developing the amazing support they provide. This expansion in the team (now five part-time nurses), represents a significant commitment from the charity to the whole pathway of care and the effect it will have is significant; guiding, supporting and signposting patients and their families during the most harrowing of life experiences. Furthermore, the effect of their work is priceless for our practitioners, doctors and pilots, in understanding the impact of the care they provide for patients.

Providing critical care DSAA provides a critical care team (practitioner and doctor) for 19 hours a day, seven days a week. We continue to maintain service reliability with 100 per cent of shifts being covered by a critical care team since April 2016, demonstrating true sustainability and that DSAA is a dependable service for the region. The reach of DSAA critical care is increasing; the number of patients provided with critical care continues to increase year on year, mainly due to requests from our emergency service colleagues (due to the outreach campaign) and due to ever improving tasking. In the past calendar year (2022-2023) DSAA has treated 1,500 patients, the largest number in our history. @dsairambulance

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WHAT WE DO

Clinical governance Clinical governance is an overarching framework, which covers the activities that help to assure, sustain and improve high standards of patient care Evidence-based care and effectiveness Guideline development continues to gain momentum with very high-quality distillation of the evidence base and rationale for DSAA’s activity. These guidelines are directly linked to the training of our team. Monthly synopses of journal articles and published guidelines have been created, which pertain to pre-hospital care. This impressive resource will support the DSAA team to wield the evidence base for patient benefit.

Learning and risk management Our Service Evaluation and Development Programme continues to evolve to deliver and maintain the data, tools and processes we need to allow us to optimise patient management. Our monthly case review meetings continue to provide a forum for our clinical team, along with clinicians from other pre-hospital environments, to review and discuss some of the more complex cases that we see during the preceding month. Each of these data reviews takes significant time and energy by the team members to collate, analyse and present. The output significantly 10

contributes to iteratively building quality within our service. We also conduct weekly case reviews, which contemporaneously draw out excellent practice and shared challenges, to develop themes of care which we can use to improve our service.

Service development and innovation Output from our review meetings is channelled into service development projects such as the development of 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

WHAT WE DO

Our education and training team have worked extremely hard to produce an extensive and varied programme ultrasound devices, expansion in vascular access devices, management of emergency anaesthesia within the aircraft and enabling our pilots to support the clinical team on scenes.

Clinical audit and research The important activities of our research team have continued to expand, with several studies in the data collection phase and other studies in the planning and set-up phase.

Education and training Our education and training team have worked extremely hard to produce an extensive and varied programme over the past six months, with content going from strength to strength. Our clinicians have taken part in a variety of simulated exercises, including a fantastic training day focusing on road traffic collisions, extrication and vehicle awareness, alongside the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, which proved extremely useful in building strong working relationships with our fire service colleagues. Other training days have focused on simulations and skills covering a broad range of topics and competencies, such as pacing and cardioversion, traumatic brain injury and surgical airway. Surgical skills are thankfully a relatively infrequent skill used, but it is important that the entire clinical team are competent when they might be faced with a patient requiring intervention. The most common surgical skill that our team undertake is a thoracostomy in suspected tension pneumothorax. This involves making a small incision through the chest wall, allowing the release of air under tension, with the aim of re-inflating the lung. Other surgical skills include amputation, front of neck surgical airway, lateral canthotomy and cantholysis and also resuscitative surgeries including thoracotomy and hysterotomy. This year we were fortunate to have a face-to-face presentation by Tracy Appleyard, Consultant in Obstetrics @dsairambulance

and Gynaecology and an online presentation with Dr Mo Al-Ghomy, who is a maxillofacial surgeon. Tracy discussed the indications and decision making for resuscitative hysterotomy. With the use of mannequins, she demonstrated the best emergency techniques and the team were able to practise. Mo talked to the team about the indications and practical tips for surgically reducing pressure behind the eyeball following orbital trauma, which may cause blindness. Our thanks go to everyone involved with organising and delivering these extremely important training simulations, discussions and exercises.

Staffing and staff management The DSAA leadership development and coaching programmes enable team members to engage in activity to develop their leadership potential; a number of the clinical team have been engaging in this additional activity. In the autumn, all of our clinicians had their annual performance reviews, which enable a review of the past year and planning for the next year of clinical activity with each team member.

Appointments and secondments Dr Laura Bland led the national pre-hospital exams in January as ‘convener of pre-hospital exams for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh’. The five-day exam was a great success and Laura will be leading the national exams twice a year over the next three years in this voluntary role. Congratulations to Jo Hernandez who has started a 12-month, half-time secondment to the Neonatal Emergency Stabilisation Team (NEST) – the neonatal intensive care transfer service based in Bristol. In January 2023, Dr Phil Hyde became the chair of the Intercollegiate Board for Training in Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine (IBTPHEM). Phil will be overall lead of the national PHEM programme for the next three years in this voluntary role. 11

WHAT WE DO

From the cockpit Our Unit Chief Pilot, Mario Carretta, gives a great insight into the training that DSAA pilots undergo and answers a question that they are asked regularly re you here for training? is a question that the pilots of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) are commonly asked, when we are with the helicopter at landing sites, away from Henstridge. Unfortunately, the answer is ‘no’. We will only land away from a designated aviation location (such as an airfield or hospital landing site), if we are on a mission and that mission is to deliver our critical care team to where they are needed the most. However, the pilots are required to carry out a certain amount of training and testing, so that we can keep current and retain our licences. While some of the training occurs in the local skies around Henstridge, the majority is carried out at the Leonardo simulator facility in Sesto Calende, near Milan. Once a year, each of our pilots come off our roster and go to the simulator for three days with instructors and examiners from Specialist Aviation Services (DSAA’s air operator). The training begins with some ground school, where we refresh our memories on things like aircraft limitations, aircraft systems, emergency procedures and the many regulations that govern our day-to-day flying. It’s then off to the simulator, which is a state-of-the-art facility that replicates the aircraft fairly accurately in most phases of flight, although the simulator is trickier to handle than the real aircraft when close to the ground. DSAA is now a multi-pilot operation and so there are defined roles for each of the pilots, split up into pilot

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flying (PF) and pilot monitoring (PM) duties. Basically, the PF is on the controls and the PM assists them with other cockpit duties, such as reading out check lists, assisting with navigation and setting up of other aircraft systems. The first element of training is carried out in good weather conditions, and we get two hours training in both the PF and PM roles; two pilots carry out the training together and swap roles between simulator slots. There are many reasons for using a simulator, one being that you do not lose the operational aircraft to training, but primarily because many emergencies can be given in the simulator that would not be possible to practise in the real aircraft. Failures of critical systems, such as the tail rotor, hydraulic and electrical systems come thick and fast and the emergencies are introduced while we are simulating carrying out our helicopter emergency medical services role, which also adds to making the training more realistic. After training in good weather, we then train for when we have to fly in cloud; another benefit of the simulator is that the weather conditions can be changed with the press of a few buttons. The aircraft is designed to assist us when flying in these difficult conditions and has a very capable autopilot that is easily programmed to take us to the destination airfield and then fly most of the approach automatically, with the pilot only having to intervene in the last few hundred feet. This still requires practice, as the aircraft will only do what you tell it to do! 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

WHAT WE DO

Views and locations A small gallery of images showing amazing views from the air and locations on the ground. Thank you to our crew and members of the public who send them to us at: [email protected]

Emergencies are also thrown into the mix, as flying in cloud adds another dimension to emergency handling. Most of our operational flying is carried out beneath the clouds and so this part of the simulator package is particularly beneficial. Once the training is over, we are then required to complete our annual licence and proficiency checks as PF, which primarily consists of emergency handling scenarios. This takes about three hours and is flown in day, night and poor weather conditions, with a recent @dsairambulance

addition that we are now able to carry out our night vision goggle flying proficiency check in the simulator. A quick turnaround and it’s then time for us to act as PM for our ‘sim buddy’ while they carry out their licence and proficiency checks. The final six hours in the simulator under test conditions is quite draining, but it brings together all the training you have just carried out and gives you the confidence that you could handle the emergency if it happened for real. 13

WHAT WE DO

Note from the Chair Our Chair of Trustees, Gillian Bryce, looks back over the past six months 022 was a year of significant changes for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. We said goodbye to Bill Sivewright, our CEO for 12 years, and also to Charlotte Routley, who took care of our finances from the inception of the charity. We are deeply indebted to them both for their years of service and hard work. We have subsequently been joined by Charles Hackett as our new CEO, who has proved himself to be a worthy successor to Bill, and Sarah Davies as our new Finance Manager. As in previous years, our work was successfully recognised at the Air Ambulance Awards of Excellence, which you can read all about on pages 24 and 25. My personal congratulations go to Ian Mew, Pete Appleby and Wayne Busby for their wonderful achievements. I think I can speak for everyone at the charity when I say we are looking forward to an exciting year ahead. There are lots of plans to continue the development and improvement of our service, which we are only able to do thanks to your wonderful support. Hopefully we will see some of you at the events we have planned over the coming months. Work is currently underway to increase the availability of our team and the service we provide, so that we can reach more patients in need of our help. We are also

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moving ahead with a project to support the growth of our airbase. The fact that we now have so many more personnel involved with delivering our service, both on the front line and in significant supporting roles for our patients and their families, means we have outgrown our current facilities. This situation clearly needs to be improved with a degree of urgency. However, it is critical that we ensure we have sufficient funds to support these developments and that we continue to deliver a service of which we are proud. I would like to take the opportunity of welcoming two new trustees to the board. William Entwistle brings excellent knowledge from his experience as a Rear Admiral, Naval helicopter pilot and his work on other charity boards, while Martin Lyne has a background as a business leader and commercial specialist. Both their skills and insight will be a great asset for us all. Some of our readers will have been cared for by our team, both during their time of injury or illness, or subsequently after, by our patient and family liaison nurses. Many of you share those traumatic times, so that we can share them with others and for that, we are really grateful. Your stories are amazing and inspire us all to do even more for the patients who need us within our local community. Thank you from us all! 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

OUR PATIENTS

“We were told that he had a 10% chance of survival” Harry Hollowell was close to death after being crushed by a 10-tonne telehandler. His mum Rosanne kindly shares their story with us, while we give an insight into the work of our critical care team and the after care provided by our Patient and Family Liaison Nurse, Kirsty Caswell t was the beginning of September last year, at around 5.30pm. I was out doing some shopping when Lauren, Harry’s girlfriend rang me and said he had been in an accident. It was a call I dreaded and every parent’s nightmare! I remember asking Lauren if Harry was going to be ok. She said she didn’t know and sounded very distraught. I dropped everything and ran outside. I knew I couldn’t drive, but a very kind lady came to my aid and offered to take me wherever I needed to go. We drove to Harry’s yard. There were police, ambulances and people everywhere. A lady and young girl approached me, wrapped their arms around me and gave me a hug. Harry had been crushed by a 10-tonne telehandler, which had pinned him against a telegraph pole. He was the other side of the barn and the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance team were attending to him.

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@dsairambulance

I was shaking like a leaf and said I didn’t want to see him; Harry was in a critical condition! He had been starved of oxygen for an unknown period of time, which was the most worrying thing. The air ambulance team placed him into an induced coma and he was given a blood transfusion, before airlifting him to the Major Trauma Centre at Southmead Hospital in Bristol. We were driven to hospital by one of Harry’s colleagues. The hour and a half journey felt like a lifetime; we sat in silence the whole way.   Harry sustained 10 broken ribs, a broken sternum and bruised lungs; the next five days were an emotional rollercoaster. On the second day in hospital, Harry’s lung collapsed. We were told that he had a 10% chance of survival – hearing that news, family travelled from all over the country to be with him, as we all thought this 15

OUR PATIENTS

Harry spent five days in a coma after being crushed

“We were told that he had a 10% chance of survival… family travelled from all over the country… as we all thought this was the end” 16

was the end. One minute he would show signs of recovery and the next, he’d deteriorate. Eventually after five days in a coma, Harry started responding to us, tried to open his eyes and was successfully brought round. He was very emotional, (as we all were) but he had no idea what had happened to him. He was very confused and his memory was very poor, however thankfully he remembered who we were. After a couple more days in the Intensive Care Unit, Harry was transferred to a general ward where he stayed for another three days. We are very pleased with Harry’s recovery, although he still suffers from some memory loss, but he is here and that is what matters. Harry owes his life to many people. His girlfriend Lauren, his friend Kristine, Lewis who reversed the tele01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

OUR PATIENTS

JAMES PENBERTHY

VIEW FROM THE TEAM As Rosanne has shared, Lauren (Harry’s girlfriend) found him on the day of his incident and bravely performed CPR as he was unconscious and not breathing. When our critical care team arrived, Harry was deeply unconscious, but had begun breathing for himself. His oxygen levels were very low and he had very obvious injuries to his chest. We administered two units of plasma to optimise Harry’s circulation before intubating him (putting a breathing tube into his trachea) and used specific types of ventilation to try and re-establish a good level of oxygen, because his lungs had been crushed for such a long period of time. (Plasma is one of the blood products that is carried on Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, which not only helps to re-fill a patient’s blood vessels after significant blood loss, but crucially helps the body to form clots at the injury site to stop bleeding). While treating and assessing Harry, the team found that his pupils were very dilated and not reacting to light, which is a sign that the brain has been impacted. Essentially, Harry’s brain was not getting any oxygen – he was extremely sick and it was very possible that he might not survive. During Harry’s flight to Southmead Hospital, he continued receiving ventilation strategies to maximise his oxygenation and his pupils began reacting to light, which they had not done before. This was a positive sign that oxygen was slowly getting to his brain. In hospital, scans on Harry’s brain did not show anything significant, so it was a case of optimising his breathing with his significant chest injuries, so that he could come off the ventilator. Then it was a case of waking Harry up and seeing how well he did. Harry did wake up pretty well, although at first he was a little confused and initially had poor memory. However, everything seemed to go well, so he was placed on a ward in the hospital and then subsequently discharged home. The after-care and support provided by Kirsty Caswell, one of DSAA’s patient and family liaison nurses was a great help to Harry and his family. Kirsty initially made contact while Harry was in hospital on the ward and struggling with pain relief and gave some initial emotional support. When Harry went home, Kirsty

handler off him, the utterly brilliant crew of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and to those who provided amazing care at Southmead Hospital. We are forever indebted to Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, not only the team that were there for Harry that day, but also for Kirsty Caswell and the patient and @dsairambulance

arranged to go and visit; the family were very keen to see her and ask questions about the pre-hospital experience. It was clear the incident had a profound impact on Lauren, who had to perform CPR on her partner and was still in shock in the aftermath of the event. Similarly for Rosanne, who as a mum, was anxious about the fact that her son had been through such a traumatic event and been close to losing his life, yet had woken up so well and was ready to get back to his normal day-to-day busy lifestyle. For Harry, it appeared he was struggling somewhat to understand the gravity of what his family had experienced, as he had no memory of any of it and felt ready to get back to work! Together, they discussed the psychological impact on everyone involved in an event like this, having to do CPR on a loved one and then bear witness to their intensive care journey. Then came the time, when the family were keen to come back and meet the team who were involved with caring for Harry that day. The visit took place very soon after the incident, which proved extremely helpful as the crew were able to talk to Harry about the significance of how close to death he was, while seeing for themselves how well he was doing, within a couple of weeks after they treated him. It was a great visit and example of why the team do what they do and why time-critical work, is time-critical. If Harry’s brain had not been re-oxygenated, literally within minutes, things would have been very different. This is a story of a very special case, with a great result and an amazing recovery! The DSAA team that attended Harry’s incident were: Phil Hyde, Pete Appleby, Kev Rutherford and Jack Cook. Also in attendance from the ambulance service were: Ashley Smith, Ross Drinkell, Mark Evans and Tim Taylor.

family liaison team, who gave us so much support in the days after Harry’s accident. It was super special when we had the opportunity to come back and meet everyone at Henstridge, especially as the crew really did not expect him to recover so well. Thank you so very much. 17

OUR PATIENTS

“The stars aligned for me that day” When Stephanie Lehmann suffered a cardiac arrest, being flown to hospital by DSAA saved precious time 022 was shaping up to be a wonderful year! It started with me finding the love of my life the day after my 39th birthday; we had fun going on dates, we introduced each other to family and friends and even decided to move in together. The date for this new beginning was set for 14th August 2022 - how exciting it all was! Then, on the 29th July 2022, two weeks before the moving in date, we hit a little bump in the road; I had a cardiac arrest and died for a short time.  I remember nothing about the day – my memory of the incident has been completely wiped out. However, apparently after having a slightly stressful week, my partner and I went for a lovely afternoon walk and dinner in Lyme Regis. We had a fantastic time, but when we got back to the car to drive home, I said I felt dizzy. Shortly after, my heart stopped. Luckily for me, my partner reacted quickly and dialled 999 for an ambulance. Moreover, a third-year medical

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student was walking through the car park at the time and saw my partner trying to perform CPR. She came over, as did two helpful young men who lifted me out of the car, so that the student could start performing ‘firstclass’ CPR. Apparently there was a defibrillator in the car park, so my partner ran, grabbed it and handed it over. Before long, there were ambulances, first responders and the air ambulance on scene. Everyone worked tirelessly for 25 minutes to save my life. The air ambulance crew stabilised me for the flight to Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton and prepared me so that I could go straight to the Intensive Care Unit, rather than spend time in A&E. The journey by air definitely saved precious minutes compared to going by road. After just over 24 hours in an induced coma, the hospital staff woke me up. I think they expected me to have some sort of brain injury, due to the lack of oxygen to my brain over such a sustained period of 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

OUR PATIENTS time. Miraculously, although I was confused for a while and most certainly had trouble with my memory for some time, I have made a full recovery! I now have an implanted defibrillator (ICD), am back at work full-time and my partner and I are now engaged! None of this would have been possible without the fantastic help of strangers and the wonderful work of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. The stars aligned for me that day and for that, I will be eternally grateful.

“The sound of an approaching helicopter brought me such great relief” After suffering a fall while climbing, Sam Snowdon was flown to hospital by DSAA. Since his recovery, he has been fundraising VIEW FROM THE TEAM We are so thrilled to hear from Stephanie and delighted that she is doing well. Stephanie’s story shows an excellent example of a patient’s chain of survival. There was an off-duty medical student at the scene who provided excellent CPR. Stephanie was shocked with a defibrillator five times before her circulation returned to a normal level. When Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance arrived, Stephanie had started to reach up towards her face and had tried to wake up slightly. To keep her more stable and prevent any further complications (particularly in flight), our team administered a pre-hospital anaesthetic and popped her off to sleep. She received further drugs during the flight to hospital, which kept her sedated. After arriving at hospital, Stephanie had a quick pit stop in the Emergency Department to ensure that she was still stable, before going directly to the Cath Lab, so that they could look into the cause of her cardiac arrest. Early CPR and early defibrillation are the first two links in the chain of survival; without those things, Stephanie would not have survived. The DSAA team that attended Stephanie’s incident were: Rob Török, Harry HarrisDriscoll, Dan Kitteridge and Dan Volpi. Also in attendance from the ambulance service were: Philip Turner, Evelyn Clarke, Louisa Hill and Steve Watkinson.

@dsairambulance

n March 2022, I took a fall while climbing in Dorset. I was very quickly put into a compromising position with my breathing rapidly deteriorating. I was lucky to have friends nearby who phoned for help (and who had to run for some miles to get signal). Initial reports coming back were saying that the land ambulance would be a couple of hours before they could get to me. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance were quick to respond and the sound of an approaching helicopter brought me such great relief. They were able to administer the appropriate care and get me into a much more comfortable state, ahead of getting me to hospital before my condition worsened. The injuries I suffered were six broken ribs, a collapsed left lung and a moderate tension pneumothorax. Who knows what would have happened if they had not been there and for that reason, I decided to raise money in aid of their wonderful work. On Saturday 24th September 2022, along with some friends, I ran the Welsh3000s, which covered 15 peaks over 50km, gaining nearly 4,000m of ascent in the wonderful mountains of North Wales. I aimed to run from the first to the last peak in under 12 hours and successfully completed the challenge in under the time limit. It was a monster of a challenge, but a huge thank you to everyone who supported me, helping to raise £735 including gift aid.

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The DSAA team that attended Sam’s incident were: James Keegan, Chris Dragatis, Stuart Cox, Dan Volpi and Scott Armstrong. Also in attendance from the ambulance service were: Polly Leppard and Michael Sherwood. 19

OUR PATIENTS

“It was the scariest moment ever” When two-year-old Bertie Coles became unwell at home, it was a terrifying experience for everyone around him. Mum Jeanette kindly takes some time to share with us what happened… t was Mother’s Day last year and we were enjoying a lovely, relaxed, family day at home. The sun was shining and we loved being in the garden and being at home as a family. Bertie has a rare genetic condition called Sotos syndrome. He seemed a little off colour that day, but nothing unusual and he was happy pottering about playing with his brother Alfie. We had recently finished decorating our shed into a games room/bar, so we invited our next door neighbours round for a few drinks. It hadn’t been long before Bertie became unsettled, so I went inside to get him some milk thinking he was tired. Usually he would follow me, but on this occasion he didn’t. When I returned outside, Bertie’s dad Sam was bringing him towards me. He was floppy, with his eyes rolling back and he was shaking – it was the scariest moment ever! We took Bertie inside the house and were trying to decide the best thing to do; we quickly phoned the ambulance service. We were panicking and thinking whether it would be quicker for us to take him to hospital

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Bertie Coles with his mum, dad and brother Alfie

ourselves, so found ourselves wandering down the path in panic. The call handler told us to get back in the house as help was on its way. It felt like a lifetime waiting for someone to arrive. When we got back inside, Bertie seemed so lifeless. We carried on talking to the call handler who was absolutely amazing. We told him that Bertie was so quiet and appeared to not be breathing so he advised us to do CPR; something that a parent would never expect or hope to do on their child. Before long, the first crew arrived, followed by another. Until then, we had not met any other Sotos family, but unbelievably, one of the paramedics had a sister with the

“Everyone around us was busy, with our little Bertie motionless in the centre of it all.” 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

OUR PATIENTS

same condition. We heard them engage in conversation and they mentioned the word HEMS, asking if there was one nearby. At that time we were unsure of the word, but now we know it stands for Helicopter Emergency Medical Service and they were asking for the air ambulance. Everyone around us was busy, with our little Bertie motionless in the centre of it all. The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance team arrived and were like angels from the sky; quickly they made a plan. Because the helipad at Bristol Children’s Hospital was due to close soon, they decided to intubate Bertie in the ambulance and stay with him en-route to hospital. This also meant that we would have the ambulance crew and the air ambulance crew beside us the whole time, which made us feel extra safe. As I sat waiting nervously in the front of the ambulance, I remember the air ambulance pilot talking to me and explaining that it would be busy when we arrived at hospital, but reassuring me that everyone would be there for Bertie, which really helped. The journey was long and I can still see the blue lights flashing across the motorway as we made the steady, yet urgent journey to Bristol. The air ambulance crew took amazing care of our little boy during that trip, but they also made the time to explain what was happening during every stage of his care. Bertie was handed over to the team at Bristol Children’s Hospital and went off to have lots of scans. I found myself waiting for him, sitting in the parents’ kitchen, trying to work out what just happened. The staff in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit looked after Bertie amazingly. In total, he spent four days there and we couldn’t wait for them to wake him up and hear him chatter away once again. They started to extubate him on the Wednesday and at first he seemed so weak, @dsairambulance

but he soon made his voice heard, which was amazing. On the Friday we went back to our local hospital and on the Saturday we were given the choice to stay for another night or go home. We decided the latter, so that Bertie could continue to recover in his own space. On Sunday, he made it (with a bit of help) to his favourite part of the house, which is our washing machine and although it took a while for him to gain his strength again, he has now made an amazing recovery. Although Sotos syndrome can cause seizures, it was deemed that on this occasion the viruses had attacked his body and it just couldn’t cope, which triggered the seizure that he had. A week after the incident we had a lovely surprise. We were sat at home after doing the school run and Bertie was playing. The phone rang and it was the patient and family liaison team from Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, checking in to see how Bertie was and how we were all coping. This follow up meant so much, as did the bravery award that he received in the post which is very precious to us. We are so thankful to everyone who played a part in helping us that day. Our neighbours who were there for us by collecting a defibrillator in case we needed it and picked up the air ambulance crew from the park, our families who helped us throughout Bertie’s stay in hospital, the ambulance crew that chose to react to our call, rather than head home as they were finishing their shift and the whole team at Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance for their care on the day and the aftercare thereafter. You will all hold a special place in our hearts and we will forever be grateful.

VIEW FROM THE TEAM Bertie’s story really captures a parent’s view when something of this kind happens to their child. Our thanks go to Jeannette for sharing her experience, enabling us to share it with you. From a medical point of view, any seizure activity in a child can indicate something abnormal within the brain and with Bertie not waking up from a seizure as we would hope, this made it clear that he needed specialist care. There were signs on scene that Bertie may have had a virus or infection and when a child becomes unconscious from that, it’s critical they get to a paediatric specific centre with paediatric intensive care capabilities as soon as possible. Intubating Bertie on scene allowed the team to take control of Bertie’s conscious state and breathing, to prevent his condition deteriorating further. We are so pleased that he is now doing so well. The DSAA team that attended Bertie’s incident were: James Keegan, Amy McGufficke and Scott Armstrong. Also in attendance from the ambulance service were: Laura Walker, Anna Macklin, Chay Farzaneh, Neil Taylor, Kimberley Braid, Annabelle Drennan and Samuel Clouter.

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OUR PATIENTS

Tamsyn, a patient revisited Tamsyn Berry kindly shared her story with us in a previous edition of Beeline. After suffering life-changing injuries in a road traffic incident, she provides us with a wonderful update, for which we are very grateful hen Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance asked if I would like to give an update on my progress, I struggled to remember everything that has happened over the past two years, but that’s brain injuries for you! Luckily, I have developed lots of strategies to help me remember and record things. Going through it all is sort of fascinating; a bit like watching a documentary about someone else. After being discharged from hospital in April 2020, I lived with my cousin and then my sister for about 18 months. They provided all my care, as finding outside care was impossible during COVID. I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful family. By August 2021, I was ready to live on my own again, so I moved to a flat and employed a carer. It’s hard needing a carer as I was very independent before; I lived off-grid in a yurt in the woods for five years, but I think my wood chopping days are over. I had worked for a fantastic charity for many years. When I returned to work, I had to go from being fulltime, to working about 10 hours a week as it was too challenging, both physically and mentally. My brain

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injury causes me to get words muddled, makes me tire quickly and affects my spelling and cognition. I’ve got an adapted desk and computer set-up, enabling me to work from home. I have a keyboard that’s split in two; the right half is on the desk and a friend made an adapted holder so the other half is suspended under the desk, which is the only place my left hand can reach it. Did I mention how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends and family? Before my accident, I was in a few bands and used to gig regularly. It took a while to get my singing voice back, but last year we ended up doing about 80 gigs! I couldn’t play guitar anymore as my left arm was disabled, but as long as I could still sing, I was thankful. I donated the money from some of the gigs to Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and we hope to be able to play at a fundraising event for them soon. Throughout my recovery, there were lots of consultations with specialists about my left arm. Excess bone had formed over the site of the break, fixing the arm in one position, meaning there was no pronation and no bend at the elbow. I also have nerve damage, so I 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

OUR PATIENTS

“I have come to accept my physical and mental limitations …and try to turn my story into a positive one.” can’t feel most of my hand. I had hoped that it could be operated on so that I would get some movement and/or sensation back, but was told that this was too risky, so I have put that to bed. The scars and skin grafts on my arms made me really self-conscious, particularly when I was gigging. However, in 2022, I decided to try and get people used to seeing them and stopped covering them up. I became like a sort of scar advocate and it was really refreshing when people asked about them. It’s not that I wanted attention, I just wanted it to be ok to have them and not feel I should have to conceal them to spare other people’s feelings. After my case had gone to court, I asked if I could meet the driver of the other vehicle, as I could imagine how dreadful they must have felt, knowing that a momentary mistake had caused so much devastation. After some deliberation, it was agreed. We shook hands and I asked if he was ok. He seemed a little stunned by that, but obviously relieved. We chatted for about 10 minutes – it was really good to meet him and to assure him I wasn’t angry or bitter. For me, forgiveness has been an essential part of my healing process and it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders… I hope he felt the same. My relationship with Jo Petheram, one of DSAA’s patient and family liaison nurses, has been so very special. She has kept in touch with me ever since my incident and in November 2022, Jo arranged for my brother, sister and I to visit the team at Henstridge airbase. It was such an honour to meet everyone, especially Dave Martin; the doctor who attended and worked miracles to save my life on that fateful day. It really is incredible to think there are such wonderful human beings amongst us, that do this life-saving work. For the most part, they are nameless, faceless entities, who go un-thanked and unrecognised. That’s why this visit was so brilliant, as it enabled us to pay thanks and

Although Tamsyn can no longer play guitar, she has been able to go back to singing

praise in person. It was a wonderful and emotional day. After that visit, we went for another; to meet the lady that was in a car behind me, who had sat with me until the fire brigade arrived. My sister had been so upset by the thought of me being injured and alone, that she had asked if anyone had been there to help. The lady was called Deleen and she was a first-aider, so knew how to keep me conscious and calm. Meeting her was amazing! Then in January this year, I managed to go skiing with my brother and sister-in-law (and a carer). I used to ski before, so it felt great to push myself again. I have come to accept my physical and mental limitations, learnt not to get frustrated at times and try to turn my story into a positive one. I am so thankful for the help and support that I’ve received from my family, friends and of course the professionals who saved me – the police, the fire service, doctors, nurses and of course, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.

Share your story Our sincere thanks go to the patients and families who have shared their story within this edition of Beeline. It is with thanks to them, that we can not only highlight the incredible work of our team, but the many others who play a part in a patient’s chain of survival. If you have experienced the work of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and would be happy to share your story with us, please get in touch by emailing: [email protected]

@dsairambulance

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Success at Air Ambulance Awards of Excellence Members of our amazing team were recognised nationally at this year’s Air Ambulance Awards of Excellence, coming out winners in two categories and highly commended in one rganised by Air Ambulances UK and sponsored by Airbus, these annual awards celebrate and recognise the specialist life-saving skills and commitment of those within the air ambulance community. Dr Ian Mew was awarded Doctor of the Year; an incredible achievement given the quality of nominations within the category. Ian has worked with Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance for nine years. He is a talented intensive care and anaesthesia consultant and an inspirational air ambulance doctor, who always goes above and beyond for patients and their families in all his professional domains. Ian has been instrumental in transforming care that is provided to patients across

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the South West and has hugely contributed to the development of injury prevention campaigns locally, regionally and on a national scale. After receiving his award, Ian said: “I am incredibly humbled to receive this Doctor of the Year award. There are so many people going above and beyond in our society, this award is a recognition of everyone who works for the benefit of others. I’d particularly like to thank Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance who have rallied behind our motorcycle injury prevention work and supported the DocBike charity from its inception. I’d also like to thank all of the DocBike volunteers and trustees, my colleagues on the air ambulance and at Dorset County Hospital, without whom none of the achievements recognised by this award would have been possible.” Wayne Busby has been the charity’s aircraft maintenance engineer for the past eight years. His total dedication to the maintenance of our aircraft often sees him work unsociable and extended hours. His exceptional contribution has enabled us to maintain a high level of service availability across the region, enabling many more life-saving missions to be achieved. This is in no small part to the exemplary way that Wayne has dedicated his time and skill set to the task. These qualities were recognised by the independent judging panel when he was awarded Operations Support Staff of the Year. Wayne received his award and said: “I am overwhelmed by the number of very kind messages of congratulations after receiving this award. Thanks to my colleagues for always making me feel part of the team. We all have the same goal, to provide an outstanding critical care air ambulance service for the people of Dorset and Somerset. For me, I love fixing helicopters and feel proud to be able

“I love fixing helicopters and feel proud to be able to play my part in helping to save lives.” @dsairambulance

Prince Michael International Road Safety Award Congratulations to Ian Mew and the team at DocBike for being announced winners of the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award. Organised by RoadSafe, the prestigious awards recognise the outstanding achievement and innovation of organisations worldwide, that help to improve We are so proud of our crew. Top left: Pete Appleby; opposite page, from top: Ian Mew and Wayne Busby

road safety. Impressed by DocBike’s motorcycle injury prevention work, the distinguished judging panel, which included representatives from Highways England, RoadSafe and IAM RoadSmart, reviewed the submission and recommended to His Royal Highness that DocBike should receive this award.

to play my part in helping to save lives.” Pete Appleby was highly commended within the Critical Care Practitioner of the Year category; once again amongst an extremely strong shortlist. Pete has taken on a multitude of projects over the past year, alongside his expected responsibilities as a specialist practitioner in critical care. He has devoted significant time (often on a voluntary basis) to enhancing operations, while acting as Deputy Air Operations Officer, a supportive, unpaid role, which significantly assists the smooth running of our service. Pete is a superb practitioner and an extraordinary patient advocate. He has championed the needs of patients and families through his unique mixture of extensive practical experience, analytical reflection and compassion. Pete was thrilled to receive the award and said: “To even be nominated for this award was an honour, however, to be recognised on the night was really special. I want to say thank you to all my colleagues and friends at Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and beyond.” Speaking of the team’s achievements on the night, Charles Hackett, Chief Executive Officer said: “Wayne, Ian and Pete are great, each bringing wonderful skills and a huge personal commitment to our mission. Their achievements are nothing short of what they deserve. We, and everyone living in Dorset and Somerset, are very lucky to have them.” 25

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New Lottery Superdraw Flight for Life Lottery

Information for current lottery members

Our Flight for Life Lottery is the charity’s single biggest income stream. It provides reliable and regular funds which enable us to plan for the future. We know that many of you are already supporting us by having an ongoing lottery membership. This is something that is greatly appreciated, as it is these funds that help us to continue saving lives across Dorset and Somerset, every single day. Our very first lottery draw took place on 19th December 2000 and since then, it has changed very little. Every member pays £1 per week (£4.34 a month) for an entry into our weekly draw and has the chance of winning our Jackpot prize of £1,000, or one of the other prizes on offer.

If you are a current member of our Flight for Life Lottery, you also have the opportunity of being part of the new Superdraw. You may have received a telephone call from a company called Unity4 recently, asking if you would be able to help the charity by increasing your regular payment to the equivalent of £5 per month, in return for being entered into the Superdraw. You may think that an extra 66p on your monthly payment isn’t going to make a significant difference, however, if enough of our current supporters agree to this upgrade, we are hopeful that our first Superdraw could raise in excess of £80,000. With the approximate cost of one mission equating to £3,000, the Superdraw could potentially help to fund the cost of 26 life-saving missions, which would be amazing.

New Superdraw In September 2022, we upgraded our Flight for Life Lottery to £5 a month and added a new Superdraw to the weekly game. The Superdraw takes place annually and gives members a chance of winning a one-off prize of £2,500. Any new member who has joined since last September is already part of this extra game and by paying their £5 per month, they are entered into the weekly draw and automatically get one entry into the Superdraw. The more months that you are a member, the more entries into the Superdraw you have, as these are accumulative. Our first ever Superdraw will take place on Wednesday 13th September 2023. 26

Canvasser recruitment Our canvassers play an important role in signing up new supporters to our Flight for Life Lottery or regular giving schemes. They will either go door-to-door, or work from retail venues or hospitals across the region, interacting with the public face-to-face and giving them an insight into the charity’s work. We are always looking for canvassers to join our existing team. If you are a good communicator, then this could be the job for you. To express an interest or apply online, please visit: http://www.lfsrecruitment.org/dsaa-jobs. Alternatively you can contact [email protected] or [email protected] 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

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You have your say The results of our Beeline and supporter survey ithin our last edition of Beeline, we included a short survey to gain feedback on the magazine’s design, content and length. Our aim was to find out if our supporters enjoy reading the magazine in its current format, or if there are any improvements that we can make moving forward. Furthermore, we remain mindful of any potential rise in the cost of production and want to ensure that Beeline’s content reflects what is important to you. Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the survey; we really appreciate your feedback and there were some fantastic suggestions and ideas made for future editions. We have taken on board many of your comments and will be reviewing the overall format of the magazine over the next couple of months. You can expect to see some of these changes within our September edition later in the year. Running alongside our ‘Beeline survey’ was an online ‘Supporter survey’, which we undertook for the very first time. The aim of this was to find out what people think about Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and the reasons why people support us. We had a fantastic response and want to say thank you again, to those who responded. Your feedback has been so valuable and will help us to develop our ways of engaging with supporters in the future.

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Competition winners! Both of the surveys included an opportunity to be entered into a special prize draw, where the winners would be randomly selected and have the amazing opportunity of meeting our crew. Congratulations to Kelly Reed from Yeovil and Patsy Jupp from Sherborne, both of @dsairambulance

whom were scheduled to meet the team in February. Unfortunately, Kelly wasn’t well, so her visit is being rearranged, however, Patsy came along with her husband, Dave, and had a fantastic time. After the visit she said: “Many thanks for giving up your valuable time to meet us this morning; we had a really interesting time and learned so much. What an amazing prize for completing a survey! The main points I have taken away from the visit are the incredibly wide scope of your work and the professionalism of your crew. I was really interested to discover the importance of reaching the patient to begin critical care quickly, whereas I had imagined it was all about getting the patient to hospital as fast as possible. It is very reassuring to know that you are there to give such highly skilled care to people who need it.”

WELCOME SARAH AND BECKY We would like to welcome Sarah Davies (left) as our new Finance Manager and Becky Heath (right) as our Supporter Engagement Officer for Dorset. Both have joined the charity since our last edition of Beeline and have certainly hit the ground running!

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In the community Some of the ways people have supported us recently

Volunteer Colin Thomas and wife Margaret organise a monthly ‘Light Bite Lunch’ at Cheddar Methodist Church Hall for people of Cheddar, raising funds for DSAA. Margaret and Marion Jefferies, along with a couple of other local ladies, do the cooking. The group recently presented a cheque to Colin for £500.95.

Janna Turner (R) and Alex Johnstone (L) exhibited their ‘Alice in Wonderwool’ at the Bath and West Showground at the end of September, raising £458.89 for DSAA.

Thank you to Tesco Tower Park in Poole for their amazing gift! This model of our helicopter Peggy is a whopping 90cm tall, has working rota blades and was filled with sweets and treats for our crew!

The Black Bear in Wool held a Christmas Fayre and raised £135. Funds were raised through selling raffle tickets and the staff made cakes and mince pies to sell. Two boxes of mince pies were also donated to the charity for our team to enjoy and they were YUMMY! One further donation of £50 was given by Nicola Cook (on behalf of her dad). In 2019, Nicola needed our help after she was involved in a motorcycle incident.

The Witham Friary Conker Championships, held at The Seymour Arms raised a cracking £1,000. Our thanks go to Lorna Godfrey and Peter Douel (proprietors) for hosting the day and for their long-standing support of DSAA.

Clairemarie Saunders completed a 63ft sponsored abseil on Portland and raised £630. Yikes! Well done!

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Thanks to Abbey Swimming Club for donating £7,000 to DSAA. With a special mention to Kathryn Ayers, the lead organiser of the club meetings. They split the money raised between three charities, one of which was us!

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HOW PEOPLE HELP

Crew members Ben Channon and Chris Dragatis joined volunteer Chrissie Foster at the Peasey Farm Christmas Fayre in Bridgwater and had a wonderful time. They even met Santa!

Thanks to the team from ‘Home to Rome 2022’, who have cycled 2,828km to raise funds for DSAA and Access Sport. Starting the challenge from Buckingham Palace in London, the team averaged 110 miles over 13 days, before ending up at the Colosseum in Rome. What an incredible achievement, while raising £4,909.40 for DSAA in the process!

Members of the Bristol Flight Simulator Group met at Jet Ex Simulations in Frome, to fly the 737 simulator and collected £150 by way of donations to DSAA. Thanks all!

We are so grateful to the employees from NFU Mutual, who chose DSAA to receive a donation of £6,379 from the NFU Mutual Agency Giving Fund. Thank you from us all!

Our thanks go to the Langham Wine Estate for raising £2,475 from their Ben Waters Charity Gig. The Langham family chose to support DSAA in memory of Archie Lowe, who sadly passed away after being involved in a riding incident in September 2020. Volunteers Susan and Terry Dredge kindly accepted the cheque on our behalf.

The Frome Fatstock Society runs an annual Christmas show, alongside the regular weekly market at Frome. They also hold an annual prize draw, funds from which are donated to various charities. This year, a kind donation of £500 was presented by President Karina Heritage to DSAA volunteer, Emma Bruce.

West Somerset farmer, Andrew Taylor, donated proceeds from the sale of livestock at Sedgemoor Auction Centre in November raising £900 for DSAA. The charity is close to Andrew’s heart, as we came to his aid when he was involved in an incident the previous year.

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Michila Wilks took part in the Hope24 weekend festival of running event. She smashed her target of 50 miles, finished 21st out of 84 runners and raised an amazing £930.

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In the community Some of the ways people have supported us recently

Ashley Wood Golf Club raised £3,661 for DSAA. Outgoing Seniors’ Captain John Cousens and current Club President Kay Everett were delighted to present a cheque to our Fundraising Manager Emma Jones, during their Christmas Texas Scramble and dinner event.

Pete Moxham and his colleagues at Wheathill Golf Club, organised their annual charity golf day and kindly hosted a DSAA team free of charge. In total, they raised £3,300 and a fun day was had by all. Pete needed the services of DSAA when he suffered a cardiac arrest in 2018.

The Carey Crafters from Wareham kindly selected DSAA as their Charity of the Year in 2020 and raised £500.68.

Tracy Stone has been fundraising for DSAA for years since her father needed our service. She holds various events and recently donated a further £250. Volunteer Doug Wiggins went along to receive the funds she raised.

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A total of £2,375 was donated by the Cobbs Cross Shoot as part of their continuing support of the charity. £1,260 was raised during the 2021/22 season and a further £1,115 this year.

The Lynmouth Classic Car Committee presented DSAA with £1,500, following their Classic Car Show last year. Several other charities received cheques on the evening, as the event raised a staggering £14,000.

Selwood’s Big Ride Out was once again a great success! Our thanks go to Phil and his team for a wonderful day which raised £1,520 for the charity.

Crewkerne Running Club raised £750 in support of DSAA’s work. Volunteer Olwen Herridge went along and accepted the funds raised on the charity’s behalf.

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW PEOPLE HELP

A big thank you to Swanage Carnival Committee for their continued support. Volunteer Linda Hernandez was delighted to accept a cheque for £1,500, from Chair of the Carnival Committee, Maria Foot.

The Osmington Tuesday Dancers held two tea dances at West Lulworth Village Hall and raised £387.54 for DSAA. They then held a Christmas Party Dance and raised an additional £450. What a fabulous way of fundraising!

Classic Canes had a Halloween fancy dress competition and raised £100. Ben, who is dressed as Freddie Kruger in the centre of the picture, needed our help in 2018. We are glad you are looking so well!

The brilliant Wings and Wheels event took place with approximately 100 classic aircraft and 250 classic cars attending. In total, the event raised just over £800, however, Dorset Car Club made that figure up to £1,000.

Bernard Paull nominated DSAA as his charity of the year, during his time as President of the Rotary Club of Bridport. Volunteers Harry Hendry and Alan Harrow went along to provide an informative talk on the work of the charity and accept a cheque for £1,300 on our behalf.

Thank you to author Mary van Coller, who has written a book called Downstream Dorset, River Tales Local History and is donating 20% of the proceeds to us! The book is available to purchase via: www.downstreamdorset.co.uk

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Somerset Trail Riders Fellowship run a charity fun scramble day at Durston every year, raising funds for DSAA. Thanks go to landowner Hugh Loxton who puts so much into the setting up of the event, enabling the group to raise a whopping £3,000. DSAA Trustee Simon Jones, was delighted to attend the cheque presentation on our behalf.

Sally Bruce supported Air Ambulance Week 2022 and raised £1,337.85, by returning to work in the NHS COVID-19 Vaccination Programme and donating every single penny of her earnings to DSAA. That’s very special!

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In the community Some of the ways people have supported us recently

Warmwell Racing Stables re-opened their doors to the public, welcoming crowds of people looking forward to a glimpse ‘behind the scenes’ of a professional racing yard. Presenting their cheque for £1,550 to Leanne Colverson were ‘Universal Secret’ (left) and ‘It’s About Time’ (right).

Steve Bailey continues his fantastic support for DSAA with his annual Christmas lights display. This year, Steve also provided a post box for children in the local area to send their letters to santa and raised £200. Critical Care Practitioner Claire Baker popped by to say thank you!

DSAA was thrilled to receive a donation of £1,876.04 from the Prudence and Industry Lodge of the Freemasons. The funds were raised by holding a number of events and raffles during John Nicholls’ term as Worshipful Master. A huge effort was also made by John’s wife Jackie, when she organised events specifically for the ladies and holding raffles at her flower arranging school.

We want to give a special mention to the homeowners of Platinum Skies Living, Sherborne, for their amazing donation and great efforts throughout the year; we really appreciate it! We were chosen as the community’s charity of the year and they organised various activities to raise funds for our life-saving service.

Jo Creed raised £750 for DSAA by asking people to sponsor her as she danced on the ‘Jubilation Cart’ with Griffens Carnival Club during their 2022 procession.

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Janet Rowley hosted an open garden event with a plant sale and refreshments, and raised £435!

Communifit love giving back to the local community and supporting their favourite charities. They hosted a Christmas party in December and raised a whopping £2,200 for DSAA. Volunteer Joe Tabor, kindly went along to say a big thank you on our behalf.

Over the past year, Marshwood Vale Young Farmers have raised a staggering £11,327.57 in aid of DSAA. The group are regular supporters of the charity and this figure is the most the club has raised for several years. Well done you fantastic bunch!

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW PEOPLE HELP

We have received hundreds of phones via the mobile phone donation point at Wells Town Hall. Thank you once again to the City of Wells Lions Club for setting this up – it is proving a brilliant success!

Our thanks go to Yeovil Classic Car Club for generously donating £2,815 to DSAA. The money was raised through their classic car meets and support from their local One Stop store.

The Jolliffe Arms raised £400 by holding a Christmas draw which local people entered. Volunteer Ken Hutton went along, to receive the funds raised.

Our thanks go to Chris and Sarah Sprake at Laycock Cider for raising £3,700 - part of the proceeds of the Wick Charity Music Festival. Chris was involved in a quad bike accident in 2020 and three charities received funds from the event including DSAA, Poole Brain Injury Unit and Headway.

All three captains from the Isle of Wedmore Golf Club selected us as their Charity of the Year in 2022. Together, they arranged various charity events and raised a huge £9,750. Volunteer, Anita Townsend, was delighted to attend the club’s AGM in December to collect the funds raised and pay thanks for all their support.

‘The Talbot’ in Iwerne Minster held a charity quiz night and raised £364.52 for DSAA. The event was well attended by supporters from the local area and Specialist Practitioner Joanna Hernandez, represented the charity on the night. Thanks to landlord’s Steve and Kim for running such a great evening.

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A huge well done to the team at Jockey Club Catering who cycled 350 miles in aid of two air ambulance charities. In total they raised an amazing £1,600, meaning that DSAA received a total of £830. Thank you so much!

Andy Munden, Treasurer of Bournemouth and Poole MG Owners Club, presented cheques to the group’s nominated charities at their 2022 annual general meeting in November. Communications Manager Tracy Bartram was delighted to collect £1,000 on DSAA’s behalf.

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HOW PEOPLE HELP

Lottery Grand Christmas Draw osh did you come out in force once again to purchase tickets for our Grand Christmas Draw! This took place on Thursday 23rd December 2022 and we can’t thank you enough for either purchasing tickets yourself, or helping to sell them to your family, friends and colleagues. In total, £118,036 tickets were sold, which is AMAZING! With the approximate cost of one mission equating to £3,000, those of you who took part have potentially helped to fund the cost of 39 life-saving missions. Our congratulations go to all the winners and a huge thank you once again for all your support!

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2022 GRAND CHRISTMAS DRAW WINNERS £1,000 Mr R G White, Bath (Ticket 208726) £250 G Scott, Portland (Ticket 404580) £150 Mr K Wheeler, Bristol (Ticket 160149) £125 Mr B Preston, Christchurch (Ticket 363932) £100 Mrs M Hyam, Bridgwater (Ticket 573104)

Our Grand Summer Draw 2023 Our next Grand Draw takes place on Thursday 6th July 2023. It really would be amazing if you could once again support us in this way. You can send any tickets you have back to the lottery office at: Unit 3, Brook Road Industrial Estate, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 2BH or purchase tickets directly by calling: 01202 849530 or by emailing: [email protected] The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Lottery is registered with the Gambling Commission www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk Registration No. 000-004838-N-100338-013 and is also a member of the Lotteries Council. Players must be 16 or over. 34

In loving memory of Jean In September, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) took my mum, Jean Bentley, to Southmead Hospital in Bristol after a hit and run as she walked near her home. Unfortunately, her injuries were so severe that she died the next day. Mum was 85 and an avid Manchester United Fan and season ticket holder; as such she had travelled across Europe, around the UK and to Old Trafford watching them play both home and away. Her most recent trip had been to watch them play in Moldova! She travelled with the Bridgwater REDs for many years and had become a very important, loved and respected part of the team.

The Bridgwater and Newport Branch supporters raised £1,140 for DSAA and we raised a further £200.12 on the day of her funeral for your wonderful charity. Jean was an amazing wife, mum, grandmother and great grandmother, who is loved and missed terribly every day. As a family, we wanted to raise money for your service as a way of saying thank you.

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW PEOPLE HELP

Christmas at Nutley Farm raises £10,467 We were thrilled to be presented a cheque for £10,467; funds raised from the 2022 Nutley Farm Christmas Lights and Reindeer Experience his spectacular event, organised by Anne Roots and her son Julian Hubbuck, was staged for the third time in 2022 and brings the total amount they have raised over the years to £26,013, which is simply incredible. In 2015, Anne was rescued from her home by our team after her horse and carriage overturned, the horse having been spooked by farm machinery. Speaking about the incident and why she wanted to support the charity, Anne said: “I had harnessed one of our ponies to go for a carriage drive with a friend. We had a good drive and on returning to the farm, we were aware that the pony could be frightened by a digger, so we decided to stop. “As I prepared to dismount, the pony bolted and overturned the carriage, throwing my friend clear and trapping me underneath in a heap of muck. As the pony panicked, I found myself being dragged underneath the carriage, before both the pony and carriage galloped over the top of me. It was terrifying and my life flashed before my eyes. One moment I was having a nice time and the next I was being airlifted to hospital with major injuries to my head and across my middle from the carriage. “The work of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance was

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Nutley Farm have raised more than £26,000 for DSAA over the years

exceptional and without them, I might not have survived to tell the tale. We continue to support them as a way of saying thank you and try to raise as much as possible. We thank all our customers for attending our Christmas Lights and Reindeer Experience and helping us raise a significant amount once again. I feel proud of the team at Nutley Farm, who are all helping to make a difference for patients, like me, who one day might need such an important service.” Charles Hackett, CEO of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance was delighted to receive the cheque and said: “Anne and Julian’s Christmas gift to the people of Dorset and Somerset is such an amazing thing to do. While giving pleasure to the many families that enjoy the Nutley Farm Christmas Lights and Reindeer Experience, they have raised money that far exceeds the cost of Anne’s individual care by our service and so, will help us to provide that life-saving care to many others. With no direct funding from the Government or the National Lottery, we rely on the generosity of the public for support. It is the commitment of people like Anne and Julian, that helps to ensure we are there when patients need us the most.” 35

HOW PEOPLE HELP

5K Twilight Shift a flying success We held our very first 5K Twilight Shift event at the end of September and what a fantastic time we had! Over 100 people took part on the day, either running, walking or jogging our 5km route around Henstridge Airfield, the home of our critical care team n what was a truly memorable late afternoon filled with warmth, fun and laughter, participants set off at 5.30pm with a beautiful sunset as their backdrop, while our crew began their ‘twilight shift’ and carried on their life-saving work. Some of the participants wore fancy dress costumes, which was fun, while others who wanted to challenge themselves even more carried extra weight on their backs, just like our crew need to do when attending an incident. Those who took part included off-duty crew members, former patients who had experienced our work first-hand and many who ran, jogged, or walked, in memory of loved ones, as a personal challenge, or as a team. One amazing story of determination and triumph was from Issy Jarrett, whose story we covered in a previous edition of Beeline. Issy was a passenger in a head-on road traffic incident and was flown to Southmead Hospital in Bristol. She broke both of her feet and arm in the

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accident, along with sustaining substantial bruising and swelling as a result of her injuries. After undergoing surgery to her abdomen due to a seatbelt wound, Issy has since made a fantastic recovery and wanted to give something back to the team who helped her. After completing the challenge together, mum Angela explained: “We both really enjoyed the event! This is the first time that Issy has been able to run for 11 months. There have been some ups and downs along the way, but she’s made a fantastic recovery and we really wanted to thank the crew who helped her on the day. Being able to meet Unit Chief Pilot Mario Carretta was really special and we look forward to meeting the other members of the crew who helped Issy soon.” There were many businesses who also took part on the day, including representatives from Hunt’s Food Group. Speaking on behalf of the team, Jadie Carter, former Marketing Manager at Hunt’s said:“Hunt’s have selected Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance as our chosen charity this year. We’re a local business based in Sherborne, so the charity is quite close to all our hearts. We hope that we won’t ever need the air ambulance, however, we’ve heard many stories of people who have been saved by the crew and realise that any one of us might need their help one day, so it’s nice to be able to give something back. We all really enjoyed the event; it was well organised and the marshals were so friendly, so we’ll definitely be taking part again next year.” Our Fundraising Manager, Emma Jones, praised everyone who took part and those that were involved in helping to organise the day: “We all had such a wonderful time! We were over the moon that so many people came to support the event; thank you to all of you. It was our first year and we know that this year’s event, which takes place on Saturday 23rd September, is going to be even better. We hope to see you then!”

Special thanks go to the sponsors of last year’s 5K Twilight Shift: Zoll and Irwin Mitchell and to the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust for providing onsite CPR advice to participants as part of their ‘Saving Lives Together’ campaign. 01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW PEOPLE HELP

A spectacular ‘Mission Possible’ gala ball o Sams and Nigel Diment held a spectacular ‘Mission Possible’ gala ball on Saturday 8th October, raising a whopping £36,179 for the charity. The event was held at their home, Islington House, and was well attended by 119 people. Those who purchased a ticket were treated to a sparkling reception, a wonderful gala dinner provided by Molecular Magic, an auction and fabulous live music from the Brighton-based Brass Monkeys. Jo told us why she and Nigel wanted to support the charity: “Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is such a vital service for us all. You help to save lives and improve outcomes for people when they need it the most and it is this that drives our passion to contribute in some way towards their fundraising challenge, through hosting the Gala Ball at our home.” Fundraising Manager Emma Jones was blown away by the support and said: “‘Mission Possible’ was the most beautiful event. I want to thank Jo and Nigel, our

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hosts, for their incredible generosity in making it a truly magical evening. The auction prizes from individuals and companies were unbelievable, as was the amount raised from the fabulous guests at the event. Hearing the stories of why people wanted to donate to Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance was truly humbling and heart-warming. Thank you so much!” A special mention to everyone who made the evening so successful, particularly: DP Marquees, The Splendid Loo Company, Molecular Magic, The Blue Vinny Pub, DWP Housing Partnership, Forest Financial Planning, Travis Perkins in Blandford, Duo Digital and Humphries Kirk Solicitors.

SPS support taff at Somerset Passenger Solutions (SPS) in Bridgwater raised over £1,300 for DSAA, by holding a variety of fundraising events, including a golf day and day trips to Weymouth, and the Bath and Cardiff Christmas Markets. SPS provided coaches and fuel for the trips and tickets were sold to friends and family, with 100% of the money raised being donated to the charity. During these trips, raffles were held and donations were collected. Simon Cursio, Managing Director at SPS commented on his team’s achievements and said: “Much of the activities we do to raise money are also seen as an opportunity to socialise and come together as a team outside of work. The day trips are a great opportunity for our staff to have fun while raising money for a very worthy cause.” We are so delighted that SPS have kindly extended their charity partnership with DSAA into 2023 and can’t wait to support them again with their fundraising goals!

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HOW PEOPLE HELP

Santa divers raise funds for charity obster Quay became a chortling sea of fluffy beards and ill-fitting Santa suits on Sunday 11th December, as almost 100 hardy scuba divers braved the snow and ice to take part in a mass sponsored scuba dive in aid of the RNLI and DSAA. As the heavens opened and thick snow fell around them, divers from across the country converged on Vobster Quay near Frome in Somerset, to get involved in what has become a popular final fixture in the scuba diving calendar. Despite the snow and sub-zero temperatures, there was no shortage of smiles and festive cheer as divers climbed into their red pantaloons and strapped on their fluffy beards for a dive like no other. Once again, divers were invited to seek sponsorship for their efforts from friends and families and they answered that call admirably with over £1,000 raised. Vobster Quay did its bit too by donating an additional £500 to each charity. Running alongside the sponsored scuba dive, a very special prize draw raffle was laid on. Divers dug deep to raise over £1,400 from the raffle alone, bringing the fundraising total to over £3,000, which was split equally between the two charities. Both charities were well represented at the event, with both sending local volunteers to help with the fundraising efforts. Vobster Site Manager, Tim Clements said: “Vobster Santas is one of the highlights of the Vobster year. We are thrilled that so many divers, their friends and family members have given so generously to support both the RNLI and DSAA. Each and every year, these two charities are responsible for helping to save the lives of so many people across the country. Vobster Santas is our way of saying a massive thank you for the essential, life-saving work that they do.”

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Nearly 100 intrepid Santas braved the cold water at Vobster Quay to raise money for us

Great support for Coast to Coast This year’s Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge is taking place on Sunday 23rd April. Online registration went live during January and hundreds of people signed up to take part! Thank you for your wonderful support again, we are really looking forward to the day and hope everyone has a great time! The brilliant 55-mile route starts at Watchet Harbour in Somerset at 10.30am and the shorter 11-mile route starts at the Royal Oak Pub in Drimpton at 2.00pm. Both will finish as normal, in the beautiful Dorset seaside resort of West Bay. Fancy an emotional and inspiring day out to support those who are taking part? Then why not come and join us at the start, en-route at one of the pit stops, or at the finishing line celebrations – we would love to see you there!

Our Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge is the first of three events that we are organising during 2023. A new ultracycling challenge with three different distances called ‘Race From The Base’ is taking place on Saturday 10th June and our ‘5K Twilight Shift’ will take place on Saturday 23rd September. More information can be found on pages 42 and 43 and via our website, where you can REGISTER NOW: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/ our-events

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW PEOPLE HELP

HELP Appeal donation lights us up e were thrilled to welcome Simon Jones, Aviation Technical Advisor for the HELP Appeal, to Henstridge in February. Simon came along to present us with a donation of £26,787, which is funding for new runway lights, helipad lighting and a new windsock at our airbase. The new lights will provide a big improvement in both reliability and performance over the previous system, while making our night operations safer and more efficient. They will also help as we look to increase our availability in poor weather with a GPS-based approach to Henstridge. The lighting of helipad and runways is a regulatory requirement by the Civil Aviation Authority when flying night missions, which signifies the importance of these improvements as we operate 19 hours every day (7.00am – 2.00am). Simon said: “It was a great opportunity to visit Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, meet the team and see how the HELP Appeal’s funding will be put to good use. Emergencies happen at any time of the day or night, so funding state of the art lighting, along with an illuminated windsock, will ensure quicker and safer take offs and landings for the air ambulance crew, enabling them to reach a critically ill patient as soon as possible. Saving time really does saves lives.”

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Burnham on Sea Motor Club olunteers Colin Thomas and Anita Townsend met members of Burnham on Sea Motor Club in January, to receive their latest donation of £900. This took place at the Abbey Tea Rooms in Glastonbury, so that they could also meet Mary Parker who is a huge supporter of the charity. Mary supports

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Burnham on Sea Motor Club continues to support us with their fundraisers

the David Warren Classic Tour, organised by the club every year. She donates breakfast and drinks to all 80 entrants, equating to hundreds of pounds. Over the years, Burnham on Sea Motor Club have donated more than £9,200 and are hoping to increase that figure when they hold their event again on 23rd July. 39

Open Gardens

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Open your garden gates to raise funds for DSAA!

We need your garden in 2023! Can you help us? We will be running our Open Gardens initiative for a second year running and we would love you to support us by opening your garden between April and September this year. Our aim is to bring local communities together across Dorset and Somerset to celebrate their wonderful gardens, whilst raising awareness and funds for the charity.

a special event in their local community in aid of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. You can simply open your garden for members of the public to come and have a look and a walk around, or make an afternoon of it and host a cream tea or BBQ as well. No matter the size of your garden or whether it is pristine or wild, we would love for you to get involved.

An open garden is a fantastic opportunity for people to hold 40

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Plan your Open Garden 1. Choose your date(s) Plan your event well in advance to give you time to present your garden at its best. No matter what size your garden is, from small balcony gardens to large private estates, and everything in between, we’d love you to share it with others.

2. When should I open my garden? Whenever you choose! Maybe you have seasonal splendours, or rich autumn colours; whatever time of year you wish to host your event, we would be happy to have your support. Most of our supporters choose to open for a day or afternoon, but if you can open your garden for just a few hours then that’s fantastic as well. If you’re feeling up for a whole weekend of activity, then consider opening your garden over two days.

3. Organise a whole village garden opening If you have neighbours that might like to showcase their garden on the same day, then why not get in touch with them to organise a village opening! This is a great opportunity to bring people to your local community and showcase your fabulous area.

4. Do you already open your garden and want to use it as an opportunity to raise funds for DSAA? If you already open your garden to the public, but would like to donate some of your proceeds to us, please let us know. We could even send you out a collection pot and fundraising materials to help.

5. Plan refreshments Everyone loves a hot drink and a piece of cake. That’s why when you register your open garden with us, we will send you a pack with a recipe card, for either a Dorset Apple Cake or a Somerset Cider Cake! Just remember to put allergy advice on display by each cake.

6. Next steps... Once you have planned your open garden, we would like to invite you to register it with us so we can support you. We have template posters that can be downloaded and used to promote your event, as well as bunting, signs and recipe cards that we can email across to you. For further information, contact our Fundraising Manager, Emma Jones by emailing: [email protected] or calling: 01823 669604.

To find out more or sign up, please scan the QR code or visit: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/open-gardens @dsairambulance

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HOW YOU CAN HELP

t n e v e w e n d n a r b r u o r Gear up fo

What is it? Our brand new event for 2023 is an ultra-cycling challenge with three different distances: 30km, 60km and 100km starting and finishing at our airbase, Henstridge Airfield, on the Dorset/Somerset border.

When is it? Saturday 10th June 2023

Sign up today and support Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. Scan the QR code or visit: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/race-from-the-base

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01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Join us at

5K The

Twilight Shift Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance

Saturday 23rd September 2023 Henstridge Airfield, BA8 0TN

Charity Run & Walk Gates open: 5pm Event starts: 5.30pm

£15 Adult £10 Under 16’s

Scan the QR code to find out more or visit: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/5k-twilight-shift

CHARITY TANDEM

SKYDIVE IN AID OF DORSET AND SOMERSET AIR AMBULANCE

ime off of your bucket Tick the ultimate thrill of a lifet life-saving service. our list while raising money for

Run the Bath Half Marathon for your local air ambulance

Self funded scheme Choice of 3 altitudes

Go online to find out more and book: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/skydive

@dsairambulance

Places cost £30 with a minimum fundraising commitment of £250. Will you take on the challenge?

Sunday 15th October 2023

Apply for a charity place today: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/bath-half-marathon

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HOW YOU CAN HELP

How to make a difference There are a number of ways of making a personal donation to help fund our life-saving work. Every penny you donate really does make a difference

Make a one-off donation

Donate regularly

You can do this in a number of ways:

If you would like to support us on a regular basis, you can easily set up a monthly direct debit or standing order.

One-off donation form Simply complete the one-off donation form in the centre of our magazine and return it to us in the post.

Personal cheque Please make cheques payable to ‘Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance’ and send to: DSAA, Landacre House, Castle Road, Chelston Business Park, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 9JQ.

Credit/debit card You can do this over the phone by calling us on: 01823 669604 or online via our website: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/donate

Cash Please do not send cash in the post. Please use one of the payment methods above or call our Wellington or Wimborne office to organise a day/ time to pop in.

Direct debit You can do this via our website: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/direct-debit There, you can specify the donation amount, how often you would like to donate and the date you would like this to be collected from your bank account.

Standing order You can do this by completing the standing order form in the centre of our magazine and returning it to us in the post.

Payroll giving Ask your employer if they offer a ‘Give as you Earn Scheme’, most large employers do.

PLEASE, PLEASE, DON’T FORGET TO GIFT AID YOUR DONATION If you are a UK taxpayer, please do not forget to Gift Aid your donation. Gift Aid enables us to claim back 25p in every £1 donated from HMRC and is one of the easiest ways to make your donation tax effective. The charity reclaims the money and there is no additional cost to you! 44

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

HOW YOU CAN HELP

A gift for the future By leaving a gift in your Will today, you will be helping to save lives in the future aking a Will is an important responsibility. We understand that if you have close relatives, their interests will naturally come first. However, when you have provided for them, you may like to consider leaving a gift to Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. Gifts in Wills are a vital source of our funding and equate to over 20% of our annual income. By leaving Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance a gift in your Will, saving lives will be part of your legacy. Any gift that we receive, no matter how large or small, will make a big difference. It will enable us to be there for the patients who need us today, tomorrow and in the future. For many people, the content of their Will is a very private matter, whereas others like to talk to us and find out more about the charity before they decide to leave a gift. Please get in touch if this is the case. We promise

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to respect your privacy and deal with your enquiry with professionalism and sensitivity.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of the above, please contact Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Julie Plowden by calling: 01823 669604 or emailing: [email protected]. More information can also be found by visiting: www.dsairambulance.org.uk/gift-in-wills

Are you looking for a Charity of the year? It’s so exciting when we hear that Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance has been nominated as someone’s Charity of the Year. We know that decision can be really hard, given the number of charities to choose from and it’s often down to a vote, so not an easy choice at all! Our team takes pride in supporting those who support us. Every relationship we make with individuals, businesses and groups is very special and we make many friendships along the way. If your workplace, group or school are considering supporting a local charity, either this year or next, we hope that you might see us as a worthy cause. Our fundraising team are ready to support you in return and help make

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the relationship extra special. All you need to do is give us a call on: 01823 669604 or email: [email protected] and we would be delighted to chat things through.

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HOW YOU CAN HELP

Other great ways to support us Whether you are an individual, business, school or a group, there are so many ways that you can support us. Below we have listed just a few: Become a collection box holder

Leave a gift in your Will

Our collection boxes are in homes, offices and retail outlets across the two counties. Your loose change is a vital source of income for us.

An everlasting gift, which helps secure our future for years to come.

Fundraise as an organisation or group We expect you have lots of ideas of your own. However, if not, our fundraising guide contains lots of great information, including an A-Z of fundraising ideas.

Hold a fundraising event

Mufti/dress down days A great way for schools, colleges and universities to have fun and raise funds at the same time.

Nominate us as your Charity of the Year We will work alongside you all the way, providing support and any fundraising materials you need.

Cake sales, raffles, a sponsored walk or run - the list of ways is endless.

Raise money when you shop, dine and sell

In memory giving

Easy Fundraising, Give as you Live, eBay for Charity and Charitable Bookings all help to raise funds in this way.

A wonderful way of family and friends donating to charity in lieu of sending flowers or remembering a loved one.

Join our Lottery Simply complete the lottery direct debit form in the centre of this magazine. You can also read more about our lottery on page 34.

Recycle Why not recycle your unwanted textiles, mobile phones and stamps; you’ll be helping the environment too.

Volunteer Donating the gift of time is very special and our volunteers help us in so many ways.

More information on all these initiatives can be found by visiting: www.dsairambulance.org.uk. Alternatively, you can contact our fundraising team by emailing: [email protected] or by calling: 01823 669604. 46

01823 669604 | www.dsairambulance.org.uk

LETTERS

Postbag

Keeping in touch There are so many ways to contact our team: www.dsairambulance.org.uk Here you will find lots of information about the charity and the work of our critical care team.

Thank you for waving goodbye Thank you to @dsairambulance for giving our children at Verwood Day Nursery the opportunity of seeing the helicopter up close and for waving goodbye when you left. The pilot talked to the children about what the helicopter was for and where they had come from. He showed them what was inside and what the equipment was used for. The children asked great questions and everyone did so well listening and walking safely across the park.

So shocked and surprised Many thanks for phoning to let us know we had won second prize in the weekly draw – we were so shocked and surprised. We would like to return part of it to you; I think the great grandchildren will benefit from the remainder!! Thank you again. Veronica Taylor

Thank you from Poppy Hiya! I managed to get some brilliant pictures of my three-year-old daughter Poppy with your helicopter the other week. She is helicopter obsessed and wanted to have a look, from a safe distance of course. A lovely crew lady told her she could come

Use your smart phone to scan here and visit our website

and have a look – thank you to her for that! My Poppy is still talking about it now! Elizabeth, Poppy’s mum

Use your smart phone to scan here and visit our website

Mural in Poole How cool is this mural (above) painted by Ricky Also and Gavin Renshaw? It was painted to commemorate the naturalist Philip Gosse, who lived in Poole in the 19th century.

Parkrun We are delighted to be teaming up with @dsairambulance at this weekend’s Poole parkrun. Their team will be joining us, to highlight the importance of knowing CPR and basic life support. They’ll also be giving out goodie bags, so make sure you go along and say hi! @Pooleparkrun We are very grateful to Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance for attending Upton House parkrun this morning and delivering invaluable and informative CPR and defibrillator training. Delighted to see so many of you getting involved. @uptonhouseparkrun



YouTube: Follow our YouTube channel and watch some engaging videos from us.  Facebook: Message us, like and share our page or write a review if you’ve witnessed our service first-hand. Twitter: Follow @dsairambulance to see our latest tweets. Instagram: See our latest pictures at: @dsairambulance LinkedIn: A great place for businesses or individuals to link up with us.

Email: If you don’t like to put pen to paper, why not email: [email protected]

Telephone: Call us on: 01823 669604. Write to us: DSAA, Landacre House, Castle Road, Chelston Business Park, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 9JQ.

@dsairambulance

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