Farm incidents account for 10 percent of NI Air Ambulance call-outs
Incidents on farms account for 10% of all Air Ambulance call-outs across Northern Ireland in the service’s first year of operation, figures show.
The air ambulance has been tasked to 380 emergency missions across Northern Ireland in its first year of operation.
A farm in Castlewellan, Co Down was the scene of the air ambulance's first call-out, where an 11-year-old boy suffered a serious head injury.
Conor McMullan, now 12, visited the Air Ambulance’s base with his dad John to meet the team who helped save his life.
John reflects on the incident last year: “We are one year on from a day that could have had a very different outcome had it not been for a service that I, like many others at the time, had no knowledge of and to which I can now say with confidence played a critical role in saving the life of my eldest son Conor.
“Our family and the surrounding community have been left with a shocking reality of how critical this service is to our rural area and to the future wellbeing of our families and we need to do all that we can to ensure it remains.”
About six months after the accident, the McMullan's organised a fundraiser as a gesture of thanks to the Air Ambulance, which raised £7,000.
25 minutes
From its base near Lisburn, the air ambulance can reach any part of Northern Ireland in approximately twenty-five minutes.
Its primary role is to deliver advanced critical care, benefiting those whose lives are at serious risk following significant injury or trauma, by bringing urgent medical assistance directly to the patient at the scene.
Clinical Lead, Dr Darren Monaghan said: “HEMS working alongside our road crew colleagues is able to attend patients critically injured as a result of major trauma, for example road traffic collisions, falls from heights, or serious agricultural injuries.
“Trauma unfortunately is the number one killer of people under 40 years of age and for every death there are at least two survivors with serious permanent disability.
“During the first year, our HEMS team have been able to reach hundreds of patients be it at the road side, farm yard or even the city centre providing clinical interventions and life-saving medical treatment at the scene and in the air,” Dr Monaghan added.
