HELIMED56 On Duty

3 single tones come through the radio that everyone carries at all times with them around the base, within 3 minutes the rotors are spinning and we are ready to lift as details start to come through about the location we need to get to and the emergency details. The images featured here are just some of those have captured whilst working with the active HELIMED crews during 3 shifts on emergency call-outs to live incidents. The driving aim of this photographic work was to document the real side of the crucial work that they do each and every day to preserve life, often meeting people experiencing the worst day of their lives.

Tim - "Working with the HELMED crew of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance over the course of the work that I shoot, I get firsthand experience of not only the amazing work that they do but also some of the issues and problems that they face each and every day, things that many of us would never think about when we see a HELIMED Helicopter in the air. Often, the crew can be 'first on scene' as they will often be the fastest to respond, this means that when they approach the location where the incident has been reported, they will often need to circle first to locate the exact position.

This is the point when it's all eyes looking out front, left and right, to get that pinned down as soon as possible. Once the location has been identified, the next task that the pilot faces is to look at possible viable landing sites that are as close as possible to where the reported patient is. He needs to look not only at where it is safe for him to land but also at what the terrain is like between that landing area and through to the patient location, as the crew will need to make that last stretch on foot and with an ever-growing amount of equipment to carry.

There is also the possibility that they may need to recover the patient back to the helicopter if it is deemed necessary to fly them to the nearest or best served hospital to deal with them, rough ground and hurdles such as fences and walls will make that difficult, all these are factors that the team are looking at and constantly discussing over the helicopter COMs.

"It was a great honour to work alongside the critical care response teams to document the incredible work that they do every day of the year from their base at Thruxton.

Highly skilled doctors and paramedics that can be called upon to attend literally any severity of incident and are often first on scene.

Over the course of my own personal experiences, I have come to realise that the term 'Air Ambulance' is quite an old misleading one that denotes people being airlifted to hospitals constantly, whereas in reality, it is more accurate to think of the team's role these days as being more one of getting highly skilled medical staff on scene as soon as possible to help preserve life, only airlifting when it is required or quicker as an option to the right hospital, this keeps the helicopter 'online' for active calls for longer.

40 paces are the maximum number of footsteps I counted while at the base from any point in the hanger to the helicopter pad with the pilot in position and the rotors turning within 2 minutes of an emergency call coming through.

These people do an incredible job is sometimes very difficult situations and locations, often with very little time to decompress between incidents, all of this funded through charitable donations made by businesses and the public. All the aviation based photography work that I shoot is used to raise awareness of their operations and help drive continued funding to allow them to stay in the air saving lives because 'every second counts' "

Final Thoughts

Tim - “Over the course of my work working alongside the HELIMED56 crews of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance I not only learned a great deal about what it entails to do the very demanding job that they do each and every day, but also, I realised a few things about myself.

It is very easy for us these days to get all wrapped up in our own little problems in life and the challenges that we all too often view as possibly bigger than they actually are in reality. Many years ago, I experienced first-hand a desperate situation, that affected my entire life moving forward and gave me a deep perspective on what is 'actually' important. Over the many years that passed, I guess human nature meant that I forgot part of that and spending time with HELMED reinforced those feelings once again.

I've heard in my lifetime many people talk about reprioritising life and work, and in truth often we do not until we are at the very edge staring into the abyss, often then it is too late, no matter how hard we wish we had acted sooner.

The men and women of HELIMED56 are ordinary people who, through years of hard work, have developed a set of very deep-rooted skills. These are put to use at a moment's notice, going out tirelessly to save and preserve life, sometimes in the most difficult of circumstances and with little time to decompress, often between call-outs.

It is always an honour to work with the people of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance and if you are ever in your greatest moments of need and you hear the sound of rotors above you then you know you have the very best people heading your way to help you.”