Air ambulance crews are called to about nine serious medical emergencies across the region every day, from major crashes to people collapsing at home with heart failure.

To learn more about those behind the life-saving service, KentOnline spent a day at the Air Ambulance Charity Kent, Surrey and Sussex (KSS) base in Rochester.

Dave Paradise is a KSS doctor and has been with the organisation for around a decade, flying across the three counties and helping save hundreds of lives.

He explained one of the reasons the service is so unique is because of the make-up of the crew which allows them to “bring the hospital to the patient”.

He said: “I think it is critical to what we do to have the mix of a hospital specialist (a doctor) and a pre-hospital specialist (a paramedic) in a team that works routinely and trains together.

“It is probably one of the most significant things in terms of personnel that we bring to the scene.”

KSS paramedic Jo Griggs added: “Within the three counties, we are the only team that can provide certain interventions at the scene such as emergency anaesthetic and pre-hospital blood transfusions.

“However, we are one part of a very big chain of survival for those patients who have had a medical emergency or critical illness.

“We work closely alongside other medical professionals in the pre-hospital care phase such as fire and rescue, search and rescue and the South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECamb).”

Medical professionals are only one part of the air ambulance crew and they would not be able to perform these life-saving interventions without KSS pilots.

They are responsible for getting them to where they need to be and the patient to hospital as quickly and safely as possible.

At the start of every shift first officer and co-pilot Cian O’Leary carries out checks on the air ambulance he has been assigned to make sure it is ready to fly and then waits for a call.

“Every day is really varied, we can end up in all sorts of different places in the day or at night,” he added.

“The flying can be more challenging for different terrain and you can end up in the docks at Dover, the cliffs, on fields or motorways.

“Once we are on the ground we try and help out where we can with the medics and make sure we get the patient on the aircraft and off to the hospital as quickly as possible.

“It is challenging and really rewarding when we work as a team to complete a mission to bring someone to the hospital successfully.

“I love the challenge of the flying and I work with a great bunch of medics and other pilots.

“It is about going home knowing I have done something good for the community.”

Read Warren Porritt’s story whose life was also saved by KSS after he was involved in a motorbike crash.

Read Giles Phillips’ story whose bedroom was turned into an operating theatre by KSS after he collapsed at home.

The air ambulance crew comprises two pilots, a paramedic and a doctor, however, there is also a fifth and equally as important member of the team - the dispatcher.

They are based at the emergency operations centre with SECamb and monitor every 999 call that comes through, which can be around 4,000 per shift.

When they encounter a patient experiencing a serious medical emergency and needs KSS the most, they send for a team.

The charity covers around 2,853 square miles but can reach any location across Kent, Surrey and Sussex within half an hour of receiving that emergency call.

However, it is not only the team which allows life-saving, medical procedures to be performed on the roadside but the air ambulance itself.

The charity has two helicopters which both have a large cabin in the back that allows crew to work on a patient while en route to hospital, which in most cases is critically important for their survival.

Executive medical director and doctor, Duncan Bootland, explained it is not only big enough to carry a patient, but also the two-person medical team and special equipment they need.

He added: “The helicopters are a core part of what we deliver for patients and allow us to get to the scene rapidly with our expert team and state-of-the-art equipment they need to treat the most critically ill and injured.”

Despite the importance of the aircraft to the service, KSS only owns one helicopter and hires the other from another firm.

However, at the end of last year, it found out its aviation partner was going to be sold and potentially fall into administration meaning there could be a significant price increase in the cost of running the second helicopter.

KSS is now looking to purchase it instead of leasing it, which will save the charity about half a million pounds, reach a further 200 patients a year and allow it to fly for an extra six hours a day and in more challenging weather conditions.

“The important thing is getting the emergency room to the patient as quickly as we can…”

At the moment, it can fly one helicopter for 24 hours a day but the other is only available for 12 hours.

Duncan said: “It is about two things for the people of Kent, Surrey and Sussex. It is about getting expert care to them as rapidly as possible and then moving them to the specialist centres.

“Buying the helicopter provides us access to provide the very best care for the patients.

“Critical illness and injury can afflict any of us at any time. In those situations, patients need the very best care and chain of survival from the point at which people call 999 right through to when they reach the hospital.

“The air ambulances are a vital part of that and this appeal is about providing the very strongest care.”

The chief executive of KSS David Welch added: “The important thing is getting the emergency room to the patient as quickly as we can and being able to deliver the equivalent to in-hospital treatment on the roadside, the beach, the park, wherever the patient needs us.

“The helicopter is a lifeline to the organisation.”

KSS only has until the end of May to secure the second aircraft which is set to cost £1 million so has launched its urgent Buy it for Life to raise funds and secure the future of the service.

More than £680,000 has already been raised. To donate, please click here or go to aakss.org.uk/helicopter.

Anyone who donates £100 or more can also have their name, the name of a family member or friend, community group, team or business placed onto the helicopter.

Schools and youth groups in Kent also have the opportunity to name the helicopter.

KSS was founded in November 1989 by Kate Chivers who was inspired by similar services which had launched in London and Cornwall.

She could see the huge benefits it could bring to saving lives across the county and was determined to provide the same for Kent.

A month later, the South East Thames Air Ambulance, as it was known then, took off to its first emergency call.

They flew to the aid of 16-year-old Michelle Leather and her brother, who lived in Tenterden, transporting her to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford for life-saving treatment after they were involved in a car crash.

Starting life with just one helicopter, it initially did not fly at night and operated for just five days a week.

First sited at Rochester Airport, it spent many years at its base in Marden, near Tonbridge, before only recently returning to Rochester where it is now housed in new offices overlooking the airfield. The operational base is in Redhill.

Over the past three decades, crews have been called to more than 43,000 incidents and now have two helicopters and four rapid-response vehicles.

In 2023, KSS responded to 3,328 emergency incidents and treated 1,912 patients - on average five people a day - with 42% of missions being in Kent.

The two most frequent types of calls were to crashes (28%) and those experiencing a medical emergency such as cardiac arrest (28%).

It costs £18.8 million a year to run the service with 88% of its income funded by donations.

KSS is called to the most serious medical emergencies in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, making around nine missions every day.