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Meeting Report of the Ipswich and District Historical Transport Society on May 28th 2025.

An total of 38 members and visitors attended our May meeting – the last of our season.

The subject of this meeting was “The History and Operation of the East Anglian Air Ambulance”  an illustrated talk by Julian Fincham-Jacques’.

The East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) is a service providing Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) across the English counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. The appeal to fund the service was launched in the summer of 2000 by top jockey Frankie Dettori, who had been injured in a serious plane crash in June of that year. It was his experience which prompted him to make a determined effort to generate support for this project. When flying commenced in January 2001, the service was initially available only one day a week. The day chosen was Friday because statistics indicated that the need for the service was greatest on that day.

EAAA now operates two helicopters, the current ones having been acquired in April 2015. They are Airbus H145 helicopters fitted with five blades instead of the usual four in order to generate the additional lift needed to raise the weight involved. On board are members of the crew, doctors, the patient and heavy medical equipment.

The organisation now operates 24/7, 365 days a year, from bases at Cambridge and Norwich Airports. They cover over 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2) and a population of approximately 3.5 million. The aircraft are named Anglia One; operating out of Norwich and Anglia Two; coming from Cambridge. There are critical care cars available as well as the aircraft.

The EAAA has a long-standing relationship with The AA, making them a major sponsor. The EAAA's helicopters have a yellow livery as a result of The AA's sponsorship. Babcock International also provides aviation support, including pilots and engineers. They also service the aitcraft. Additionally, the EAAA relies on public donations and fundraising efforts to cover costs.

 It may be remembered that Prince William was a highly regarded pilot with the EAAA and is remembered as an excellent team man with no airs or graces. All the personnel are volunteers. There are only three or four paid adminstration staff on the strength.

We were shown a video clip of one patient; Mark. He had what was thought to be a diabetic hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) seizure whilst with his family on Southwold beach. A helicopter was launched and it was soon discovered that Mark had in fact had a serious neurological event. SARS (Suffolk Accident Rescue Service) were also called out and Mark was given a general anaesthetic. He was air-lifted to hospital and into an intensive care unit. Mark has since made a complete recovery. His family were also given the support they needed in order to cope with the shock of this event. This is an additional area that has been the subject of training in the EAAA.

A second video clip showed another “shout”, this time an accident on a farm in the Wisbech area in 2020. A farmer was loading straw when a large forklift loader ran into him. He was trapped under the tines and a spike had passed through his body. This time all the services including the EAAA were called out. A doctor present later said that he was not confident that the patient would survive at the time. It would have been a miracle if the spike had not damaged any of the major organs.

Well…miracles sometimes happen. The patient was recovered from under the tines. The spike and the patient were air-lifted to Addenbrooks Hospital. An operation found no major damage to his internal organs and he has made a complete recovery. This story ended the first half and our Chairman expressed her relief at announcing tea and coffee at this point.

Patients are not necessarily taken to the nearest hospital. Units in the area provide specific specialist treatment, for example: The Royal London treats major head injuries; Papworth takes care of heart problems and Chelmsford has a burns unit.

The helicopters have very expensive medical equipment on-board, such as:

Video laryngoscopes to help with the placement of breathing tubes (intubation) in individuals with difficult airways – cost £1000.

Butterfly IQ and Ultrasound equipment for internal imaging of patients – cost £1300.

Lucas CPR devices – cost c. £10,000. This incredible apparatus administers chest compression very efficiently, thus freeing up medical personnel to do other important procedures.

All this expensive apparatus and the entire service is totally dependant on donations. There is no money provided by government or the NHS.

After many excellent questions from the audience; our Chairman; Sylvia Kerridge, thanked Julian and he was given warm applause.

Mervyn Russen

Julian Fincham-Jacques (with his permission)

Two Airbus H145 Helicopters in East Anglian Air Ambulance livery. (With permission of Julian Fincham-Jacques)