The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) recently held a launch event introducing the life-saving work of their charity to the Isle of Man community.

The GNAAS is a charitably funded air ambulance service which provides life-saving care throughout the North East, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Isle of Man.

In 2022, GNAAS entered an agreement with Manx Care to develop a service to transfer seriously injured or unwell patients by helicopter from the Isle of Man directly to the UK for emergency medical treatment.

Working closely with paramedics from the Isle of Man Ambulance Service, GNAAS’ critical care team, which consists of a doctor and paramedic, can provide patients with pre-hospital care, including anaesthesia, blood transfusions and surgery.

Last year, GNAAS was called to the island 24 times, and their team delivered specialist treatment on scene to several patients.

Thirteen of these patients were taken to a trauma or other specialist centre in the North West of England.

The charity recently held a launch event at the Santander Work Café in the Isle of Man to introduce themselves to the community and share their mission in enhancing emergency medical services on the island.

GNAAS’ chief executive David Stockton, and head of operations Lee Salmon, provided additional insights and answered questions from the audience.

Mr Stockton said: ‘It was an excellent event, in an excellent facility, and we were thankful to the many people who came out to meet us and listen to our stories.

‘We had some very encouraging conversations during and after the event, and so many people who like the work that we do and want to try and help us and enable us to continue providing our service.

‘It was also helpful to explain how we complement and enhance the medical services and provisions already available on the island.

‘We’re very much in the transformational phase at the moment but it’s a really exciting phase, and we’re looking forward to seeing what this year might bring.’

A spokesperson from the charity said: ‘2022 marked the service providing 20 years of life-saving care. Throughout this time, they have responded to more than 23,500 incidents across the region, with road traffic collisions being the most frequent type of incident responded to by the team.’

The GNAAS needs to raise £8.5m a year to remain operational, and welcomes donations to the charity.