Sir Gavin Williamson visits new state-of-the-art air ambulance base

Sir Gavin Williamson visited the new state of the art facilities at the Midlands Air Ambulance base in Cosford after the charity has recently been able to improve its facilities.

The South Staffordshire MP was shown around the new Air Ambulance facilities that had been renovated using a £1.2 million grant from the treasury.

The funds have been put towards two extra helipads for emergency aircraft and extra space for rapid response vehicles and critical care cars.

The organisation said it aims to increase its capacity to serve the million people living in the Midlands area and hasten the dispatch times to each emergency call.

It also said it hopes the base will become a space for future clinical research possibilities.

Sir Gavin Williamson said: “It was really fantastic to be shown around the new facilities by Midlands Air Ambulance Charity.

"The expansion of the facilities will enable the team to service more critical care patients and reach those in need of emergency treatment that crucial bit faster.

"I’m looking forward to seeing further developments in terms of clinical research at the facility, and wish to be of use in sourcing funding for the project in any way possible. “

Hanna Sebright, chief executive for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said: “Our new airbase and headquarters is a significant milestone in our charity’s 32-year history and is critical to us achieving our mission to provide patients of the Midlands with outstanding pre-hospital care and lifesaving intervention today and into the future.

“We welcomed the recent opportunity to show Sir Gavin around our new premises, which includes a training centre and simulation suite, helping our advanced clinicians to train in challenging lifelike scenarios.”