Scottish Charity Air Ambulance

Those magnificient men in their flying machines

President Gordon presents a Rotary cheque for 7878 to Gavin Davey OBE, Chief Executive, of Scotland's   Charity Air Ambulance SCAA. This magnificent sum is part of the distribution of funds raised from the Perth Silent Auction, and in handing over the cheque, Gordon praised the wonderful efforts of our donors andsupporters of the Auction in making this contribution possible.

 (Photo courtesy of Louis Flood)

Gavin is a former army helicopter pilot captain himself, with vast experience both in the field and as a trainer,  and he thanked all concerned for the generous support. He also took the opportunity to provide an up-date on the work of the Charity.

Since first taking to the air in 2013, the crew of pilots and paramedics have flown 505 missions, covering more than 40,000 miles. The air ambulance is primarily used for time critical emergencies and many of the calls have been to remote areas such as North Perthshire and the Angus Glens. However, the ambulance also travels further afield and its Perth Airport base makes it ideally suited to reach 90% of Scotland'spopulation within 25 minutes. The helicopter also works closely with the ground emergency services for secondary transfers where access may be difficult or where time saving is crucial.

Gavin also described some examples of the type of the work undertaken by the crews and went on to say how   the service is engaging with other organisations, such as the farming community and rural schools, in developing reference point systems as a means of helping to accurately identify locations.

The vote of thanks was proposed by John McEwan and he paid tribute to the excellent work being provided by the Charity and its personnel.