3 single tones through the radio that everyone carries at all times and within 120 seconds the rotors are turning and we lift.
These are just some of the images captured last week whilst photographer Tim Wallace was on active duty with HELIMED56 to document the crucial work that they do to preserve life often meeting people experiencing the worst day of their lives.

Over the last few years photographer Tim Wallace has worked very closely with several HEMS based operations such as HELMEDS 21, 56, and 60 to document the work of these organisations, spending time with their pilots, paramedics and doctors to capture the day to day lives of these amazing crews that work tirelessly to provide rapid response emergency medical care with their helicopters and rapid response vehicles.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance are a client that we work with on a regular basis to capture and record the work that they do through their Air Ambulance operation HELIMED 56. Tim has worked closely with the team over the last few years and completed all the required CAA authorised training that was required so that he can work directly with the HELIMED team during operations to get a first-hand view of what their day can entail and be fully embedded into the online crew during active service. All the work produced from this will be used to raise awareness of an operation that is entirely funded by donations from supporting businesses and members of the public.

Tim - "I remember taking the initial call from the guys at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA) back in early 2021 and we discussed working with them to do a library of new photography to show all aspects of their operation, from the training scenarios that they run on a regular basis, through to their rapid response vehicle and finally the air ambulance itself. After several meetings we opted to approach this in a way that had not been done before in the UK, with myself actually going through CAA approved training so that I could stay with the HELIMED crew and go on live operations with them.

After a few weeks we had the required approval to move forward and over the course of a few weeks I completed a series of training courses and tests that would qualify me officially to be an active crew member, these were things like HEMS Technical Crew Member Theory, Aircrew Fire and Smoke Training, Escape Door Training for the Airbus Helicopter H135, Crew Resource Management Training, and the infamous Dangerous Goods Onshore (Helicopter) course. After completing these I worked closely with the team at HIOWAA and we worked out a plan so that over the period of a week I would be able to access and capture the varied elements to what they do. These were to cover everything from the regular critical care training sessions that they undertake with HEMs Doctors and Paramedics in training, through to the Rapid Response vehicle operations and finally the Air Ambulance itself."

"Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance recently commissioned AmbientLife to completely refresh the charity's photographic marketing assets. Tim completed our airframe provider's comprehensive training programme to allow him to fly onboard live missions, and we ultimately embedded Tim with our crew over 3 days. Tim worked hard to build rapport and relationships with our doctors, medics and pilots. Ultimately, he won them over by being overwhelmingly considerate of their needs while trying to portray their work in an honest and enlightening way. Tim was able to setup and capture scenes quickly and with minimal fuss or intrusion. He insisted that crew did not add drama to scenes or do things that they wouldn't ordinarily do. Ultimately, the photographs are of a quality that we could only dream of. Whether it is shots of the crew's training sessions or on board our Air Ambulance, they give the viewer remarkable access to the world of Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine, represent our crew perfectly and were delivered in just days of the shoot. Throughout the process, Tim was a delight to work with. He became one of the team and totally understood what we needed." -
Keith Wilson, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.