Visit to Yorkshire Air Ambulance

Rotary Club of Elland trip to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance is President Andrew's charity for this year and on Tuesday 25^th Nov the Rotary Club of Elland had a trip to their base at Nostell Priory.  Unfortunately due to restrictions on numbers from YAA (for safety reasons) and prior commitments of Rotarians only 5 managed to make the trip.  However, what a fantastic trip it was and we were welcomed with open arms by Chief Pilot  Andy Lister and Regional Fundraiser Kerry Garner.

On arrival we were refreshed with tea and biscuits following a long journey in rush hour traffic, and then given a thorough history of how the YAA started, nearly folded and re-emerged to be stronger and on a financially sound footing.  Don't get me wrong though, they still need all the fundraising to continue, to carry on their fantastic work.

Currently two McDonnell Douglas 902 Explorer helicopters cover the whole of Yorkshire and from the two bases at Nostell Priory and Topcliffe and they can get to any call within 20 minutes, stabilise the casualty and then transfer to the nearest hospital.  They fly all daylight hours 365 days of the year and this is all done without any financial help from UK government or NHS.

We were given a full tour of the facility with nothing held back or hidden. From the operations room with all the high tech gadgetry to the sluice room for cleaning up after a call. We were shown every inch of the helicopter and given some eye boggling maintenance costs.  Engines at 285,00 each, Rotor blades at 46,000 each and even a pair of wiper blades cost 1,400.

Finally it was time to leave, and even then the advice did not stop. We were pointed in the direction of a local hostelry with fine food and real ale. A perfect end, to a perfect trip.