The Essex Air Ambulance was launched to provide a life-saving service for the people of Essex.
The first Air Ambulance was launched in 1998 and today the EC135 Eurocopter, launched in May 2003, is in operation seven days a week in daylight hours and attends an average of 2-4 emergencies a day.
The Eurocopter is fast, warms up quickly and has space for a family member to accompany the patient. It also has the ability to access remote parts of Essex quickly, bringing highly qualified clinicians and sophisticated life-saving equipment to a patient within the first few vital minutes of an emergency. The aircraft is not affected by high tides or traffic congestion on our busy roads and country lanes. The helicopter is able to reach areas inaccessible to land vehicles, including woods, beaches, docks and golf courses.
Based at Boreham near Chelmsford, the helicopter is never more than eight minutes flying time from any one of the major hospitals in Essex and flies at a speed of 150 miles per hour.
It costs in the region of £250,000 per month to cover all charitable costs and aircraft operations but the charity receives no National Lottery funding. To date the aircraft has flown over 10,000 missions.
It is thanks to the generous people of Essex that we can ensure that the service continues to fly into the future.