Visit to the London Air Ambulance – Fri 12 June 2026

Two groups of 10 members were fortunate enough to visit the London Air Ambulance Headquarters situated above the 17^th floor of the London Hospital - the Helipad offers enviable views.

We had a tour from one of the two on duty firemen who are responsible for the safe take off and landings of the helicopter.

The helicopter has two pilots, a consultant doctor, a Fellow and a paramedic. The latter is on secondment from the London Ambulance Service. The principal funding for this service is from charitable donations with regular giving being an important part of their ongoing funding, as well as significant donations and legacies. This gives it a degree of independence from the NHS. The helicopter carries much of the equipment you would expect to find in an Emergency Department – and more. The team carries units of O negative blood, along with advanced medical equipment designed to give patients the very best chance of survival at the scene. They were the first to perform pre-hospital, on-scene REBOA (resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta), which has proved lifesaving.

Both groups witnessed take-offs although in both incidences these were aborted. There is a paramedic monitoring calls and who alerts the team to stabbings, falls from height, impaling and major RTAs. If, when the Ambulance service arrives on site they find there is no need for immediate medical attention, they may stand the helicopter team down.

There is a team available 24/7 with the flying hours restricted to 8am to dusk. The medical team will attend in cars in the night.

The London Air Ambulance responds to incidents within the boundaries of the M25, and may occasionally relocate if another team need to fly a patient in. This however is rarely done as it is easier to use road transfer for better and safer patient management.

We were able to see behind the scenes, the operations room, rest areas and practice stations.

Our hour-long visit whizzed by and we all came away with admiration for the job they perform.

A donation to the Air Ambulance from the charge for the event was made.