“Be careful” call from air ambulance chiefs.
While many people will be thinking about getting away for the Easter break, the life-saving aircrew at Midlands Air Ambulance, which covers the West Midlands, is urging the public to stay safe during the first bank holiday of the year.
“Naturally we all want to make the most of the long Easter weekend, and while we’d encourage people to have a good time, we’re also asking the public to consider their safety and that of others,” states Becky Tinsley, air operations manager for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity.
Becky explains: “Unfortunately the number of air ambulance missions we are called out to tends to rise over bank holidays. There are more vehicles on the roads as more people look to get away for the weekend, so the number of road traffic collisions we attend increases. We also see a rise in the number of burns accidents at barbeques and incidents involving certain sporting activities such as swimming, horse riding, hill walking and climbing for example.”
Midlands Air Ambulance carries out over 2,000 missions each year, several of which are life-saving. As each mission costs the charity approximately £2,500, all of which is funded by donations from the public and local businesses, the team at the service is encouraging the local communities it serves to stay safe while enjoying activities during the Easter break.
If you want to find out more about the life saving work of the Midlands Air Ambulance and the types of incidents the service attends, visit www.midlandsairambulance.com or find the charity on Facebook. Alternatively, call the team on 0800 8 40 20 40.