A London Air Ambulance medical consultant from Douglas has shared his daily routine in the Sunday Times Magazine.

Dr Gareth Davies, who was the lead consultant on the Paddington rail disaster in 1999 and the 7/7 bombings in 2005, gave his version of ’A Life in the Day’ in the UK publication released on December 29.

He is also an emergency department consultant at Noble’s Hospital and has provided medical services for the TT and MGP for more than 20 years.

The 57-year-old, who joined the service in 1993, explained a day with the air ambulance starts at about 4.30am when he tiptoes around the bedroom to avoid waking up his sleeping wife, Sian.

Grabbing a coffee and croissant on the way to the Tube, he later makes it to the helipad at 6.15am with 45 minutes to kit up and prepare for whatever lies ahead in the day. The Manxman usually ends up getting home at 8.30pm.

He said that out of the 9million people living in London, he’ll see ’four or five involved in a major trauma that day, whether it’s a big terrorist incidents, like the 7/7 attacks, or a child being knocked down on their way to school’.

As the helicopter is run as a charity, the team have a limit on when they use it as it wouldn’t be affordable to keep it operating throughout the whole day, he said. Instead, they drive in cars during the first hours of the day.

The feature looks at changes which he has seen over time - such as him now having to wear a stabbing vest at all times and being on the lookout for drones when flying.

When dealing with trauma, he said: ’We do very technical things in terms of operating on patients, but, actually, what they remember is our touch and reassurance - telling them not to die.’

He said: ’The work does affect you. You need doctors and paramedics there who can look at the complexity, the horror, and go, "actually, I can make that better".’

He feels ’privileged’ to be in the role, he wished he knew how to separate work from life better and with four boys he has made it a New Year’s resolution to get a better balance.

He added the air ambulance works closely with the NHS and that both are ’an amazing statement of how society does care’.