Thames Valley Air Ambulance

We're geared up and ready to go in all conditions. 🌫️🚁 With winter on the horizon, we're facing longer nights and increasingly unpredictable weather. But remember we're here for you, whatever the weather, 365 days a year. While severe weather can sometimes prevent our helicopter from flying, our dedicated crew can still reach you by critical care response vehicle, ensuring you and your loved ones receive lifesaving care when you need it most. ❤️ #AirAmbulance #EmergencyServices 📸 Credit: Callum Goodwin

🚨 Do you shop with Waitrose & Partners? Help us win £1,000! 🚨 Until the 31st October, every time you shop online with Waitrose & Partners through easyfundraising, you give us the chance to win £1,000 - meaning your purchase can help save lives. Here's how to get involved: 1️⃣ Register at www.easyfundraising.org.uk 2️⃣ Select Thames Valley Air Ambulance as your chosen charity. 3️⃣ Shop online at Waitrose & Partners through the easyfundraising platform. ⭐ Even better: New Waitrose customers can raise £10 for us on their first order over £40! So what is easyfundraising? It's a platform where every time you shop online with participating brands - whether it's groceries, clothes, or even insurance - a portion of your purchase is donated to charity at no extra cost to you. So that purchase you're about to make? It could help to save lives. 🚁

1,154 minutes, 577 calls and 200 letters 💌❤️ You may have received a call from us today or a letter in the post. Our charity team have been busy reaching out to our incredible supporters, thanking them for their generous donations. Without your kindness, our work would cease to exist. We solely rely on your generosity to keep our lifesaving paramedics, doctors and pilots ready for whenever you need us. ❤️🚁 This #ThankingDay we would like to share our appreciation for everyone who has fundraised, supported and donated to our cause. Even if we couldn’t reach you, please know we are incredibly grateful. Thank you for helping us save lives. ❤️

Every day, over 3,000 emergency calls are taken by @scas_999. But how and when is the air ambulance dispatched?🚁🚑 You might be surprised to learn we have a team of dedicated emergency dispatch assistants based in the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Control Room in #Bicester. Once a call is triaged and categorised by SCAS, our dispatchers work alongside a critical care paramedic to monitor and listen in to high-priority emergencies. If we think a patient could benefit from our advanced critical care, our dispatchers find the nearest available crew by analysing the location of the emergency and current road traffic. This helps determine if the helicopter or a critical care response vehicle should be deployed. Our crew are on standby, ready to save lives at a moment’s notice, and a radio call alerts them as soon as they’re needed. As the first point of contact for our critical care service, our dispatchers play a vital role. Saving lives starts with their hard work and expertise in quickly putting the right crew in the right place. ❤️

Welcome our new doctors in the comments below👇👋 That's right, thanks to your support, we've welcomed eight new doctors to our lifesaving service. Our new clinicians come from a variety of backgrounds including emergency medicine and intensive care. But for many, this is their first time in pre-hospital care. Fresh off their arrival, our new doctors were put to the test last month in our Foundations in Pre-Hospital Care Course. They took part in challenging, realistic emergency scenarios, putting their experience and knowledge into practice. We are a charity solely funded by the generosity of our community. Having the expertise of highly-trained doctors and critical care paramedics on board our vehicles is only possible because of your donations. Thank you for helping us make a difference to patients in need. 🙌❤️ #HEMS

Meet Matt and Tracey who are demonstrating just how fun it can be decluttering and recycling your old clothes, shoes and textiles.🗑️ They may be striking some questionable poses in front of the recycling bin, but there's nothing questionable about saving lives and the planet! 🌍🚁 We have around 100 recycling banks across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, so find your local bank and allow our paramedics, doctors and pilots to continue bringing their expertise to #LifesavingMissions ▶️ https://bit.ly/2Fx9sdb #RecyclingWeek

🩸 Blood donors needed! 🩸 NHS Blood and Transplant has warned of a national shortage of O Negative blood. If this shortage continues, it could affect our ability to carry blood on board our vehicles. Known as the universal blood type, O Negative can be given to any patient regardless of their blood type. When someone is bleeding heavily, our crew use this to perform emergency transfusions at the scene. To continue doing this, we need your help. Make a difference, book your appointment, save a life. Thank you. #GiveBlood ▶️ https://bit.ly/2VDG4Ib

Imagine every seat in #AdamsPark stadium filled - not with football fans, but with patients. 🏟️ This year, we reached a significant milestone: we've treated 10,000 patients since becoming an independent healthcare provider. That's enough to fill Wycombe Wanderers Football Club stadium – every single seat representing a life we’ve been able to help. ❤️ Behind each of those 10,000 is a real person, going through the worst day of their life. Our paramedics and doctors do everything in their power to save them, but it's your donations that make every mission possible. 🚁 As a charity, we receive no government or national lottery funding. We rely entirely on donations from our community – people like you. Help us continue being there for patients when they need us most. 📱 Text TVAAWW to 70215 to enter our prize draw for a chance to win a signed Wycombe Wanderers Football Club shirt. 👕 Entries close at 11:59pm on Sunday 6th October. For full T&Cs, please visit tvairambulance.org.uk/ww #Charity #AirAmbulance

Race to the Stones: The UK’s Biggest Ultramarathon 🏃♂️ Back in July, six amazing supporters took on this epic challenge, running from Lewknor to the breathtaking Avebury Stone Circle. Together, they raised an incredible £6,586 for Thames Valley Air Ambulance. 🚁❤️ Now it’s your turn! Between April 2023 and March 2024 we were called out 3,232 times. Behind every number is a real person. Every step you helps to keep our paramedics, doctors and pilots ready and on call for whenever you need us. Be a lifesaver and take part in our 2025 challenge! Find out more and register ▶️ https://bit.ly/4eTaifj #TeamTVAA #FridayFundraiser

How does our helicopter land at major trauma centres? 🚁 At 17 major trauma centres in the UK, you can typically spot a large yellow circle surrounding a red H in a cross -this is a helipad. 🏥 Hospital helipads can be located on the ground, on a hospital building rooftop or on a low structure, enabling access to an emergency department. The area has to be clear of obstacles, surveyed on a regular basis and monitored for constant use🌲🏨 When our crew approach a helipad, they take into account the wind direction using indications from the ground, such as a wind sock positioned adjacent to the landing site. They check the area is clear, secure and proceed to touchdown. 💨 Our crew may communicate with the hospital, whilst inflight, via our HEMS desk providing an ETA and an update on the patient's condition in preparation for arrival. 📻 Of course, the biggest difference we can make for patients is getting the expertise of our crew to the scene of the emergency. But with our aircraft and priority access to hospital helipads, we can transfer patients quickly and safely to further aid their recovery. ❤️ #avgeek #helicopter #pilotsoflinkedin #aviationphotography #aviatorsworldwide #av1atiOn 📸Nigel Lyons