New air ambulance boss flies in
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by business editor Trevor Sturgess
tsturgess@thekmgroup.co.uk
Flying at night to save more lives is high on the list of
priorities for Kent's new air ambulance boss.
Adrian Bell, 48, is retiring as a senior Royal Navy officer to
take the helm of the Marden-based service which now covers Kent,
Surrey and Sussex.
He said that 24-hour response was important but admitted that
there were funding and safety issues.
"We've got to look at all the options and make sure we don't
endanger safety."
Tony Monteuuis, chairman of Kent Air Ambulance Trust (KAAT),
said lives had been lost because the helicopter was not available
for night-flying.
"Every time we can't send a helicopter to a crucial road
accident in the middle of the night, somebody may die who would
have lived had we been able to get an air ambulance there and deal
with it. It's as stark as that."
Night-flying could add an extra £3m to the existing £3.4m cost
of running the service, but he hoped it would be introduced within
five years.
Mr Bell, a married father-of-two who served in the Falklands War
and leaves his present appointment as Commander British Forces
Gibraltar to join KAAT, paid tribute to the volunteers and donors
who supported the service so generously.
"I'm humbled by the volunteers who give so freely of their time
and effort, come rain, come shine, no matter how exciting or
mundane the task is."
He admitted that raising the money was tough in challenging
economic times, but was confident that "we are in a good position
to weather these challenges".
"I want to build on the 20-plus years of success of the air
ambulance and ensure we continue to be at the forefront of the
helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) and the air ambulance
service in the UK."
Friday, September 03 2010
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