About Great Western Air Ambulance Charity
Our Critical Care Team stand ready to save the lives of local people...
We provide emergency care to people who are in a state so critical that they require the specialist skills of our team at the scene of the accident or medical incident. Though we are part of the regional 999 response service and work closely with NHS hospitals, we are a charity funded by local people just like you.
GWAAC saves lives across Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, North Somerset and parts of Wiltshire. Without you, we couldn't do it. It’s your support that allows us to keep the air ambulance going, so our team can keep saving lives.
How we work
We don’t simply fly people to the nearest hospital. Our priority is to get to the patient fast. We treat people at the scene, on the road and in the air, providing complex interventions to stabilise and treat the patient and give them the best chance of a positive outcome. The service we provide is reliant on our brilliant team of pilots, Advanced and Specialist Paramedics and Consultant Doctors who specialise in pre-hospital care.
Blood on board: lifesaving care at the scene
A blood transfusion is something most of us associate with hospital. But for patients who are critically injured, receiving blood before they reach the Emergency Department can be lifesaving.
That's why our Critical Care Team carries blood products on both the helicopter and our critical care cars. Our crews carry packed O-negative red blood cells, which can be safely given to any blood type in an emergency, and fresh frozen plasma, which contains clotting factors to help stop bleeding.
It means we can treat major blood loss right where it happens, whether that's at the roadside, in a field or in someone's home, giving patients a much better chance of survival. For those who might not otherwise make it to hospital in time, it can save their life.
Rapid response
Within five minutes of a call to the GWAAC base, our team can take off or hit the road and be on their way to deliver vital, lifesaving treatment. With the help of people like you donating and volunteering their time, GWAAC has been able to help an average of more than six critically-ill patients every day.
“It is some of the most challenging medicine that I’ve ever practised.''
As a Critical Care Doctor at Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, I know that our response to any call that comes through could mean the difference between life and death. But on a very rare occasion, there will be a patient so seriously injured that my actions over the course of a minute could make that difference. It is some of the most challenging medicine that I’ve ever practised.
GWAAC's Critical Care Doctor Tim gives us a rare insight into what it's like to work as a doctor in the pre-hospital environment.
Meet the crew
The Great Western Air Ambulance Charity team work 365 days of the year to attend emergencies across Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and parts of Wiltshire. We are one of the busiest air ambulance services in the UK, being called to over six incidents every single day on average. Meet our Critical Care Doctors, Advanced and Specialist Paramedics in Critical Care and Pilots.
Our area
Great Western Air Ambulance Charity provides the Critical Care Service and air ambulance for Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, and parts of Wiltshire.
We support our colleagues in the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASfT) as well as our neighouring air ambulance charities.
We are based in Almondsbury, South Gloucestershire on the junction of the M4 and M5 motorways. This unique location means we can be almost anywhere in our area within twenty minutes.
Our area is lucky enough to have a Major Trauma Centre at Southmead Hospital as well as the British Cardiac Institute and Bristol Children's Hospital at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.
