Not as a result of the proposed reconfiguration. Wales Air Ambulance will continue to serve Powys as we always have – but with an enhanced service that could attend more lifesaving missions in the County (+11%) and with an additional overnight resource.
As is the case now, our friends and colleagues in Midlands AA would only attend an incident in Wales at our request and likewise, we would support them if they requested and we have a team available.
Here is a summary of the process behind cross-border air ambulance support. All 999 calls in Wales are received and logged within Wales. Therefore, our air ambulance colleagues across the border would not see Welsh 999 calls. Wales Air Ambulance has a dedicated 24/7 Critical Care Hub in the Welsh Ambulance Service Contact Centre (where 999 calls are received). Staffed by an Allocator and Critical Care Practitioner, the Hub team monitor all calls where a life or limb is potential threatened and, if there is an emergency that we could add value to, they will send the appropriate available Wales Air Ambulance team (regardless of where in Wales they are based). On the rare occasions where we need cross-border support from another air ambulance service, it would be our Critical Care Hub who would request this directly with them. This would only happen if our crews were already allocated to other emergencies or during a significant incident where multiple emergency resources are needed.
This cross-border aid is reciprocated as Wales Air Ambulance offers the same support for the same reasons in aid of our air ambulance colleagues who work alongside our border.