2000 Landings in Bristol Hospitals

HELP Appeal, May 23, 2020 - Bristol Royal Infirmary and Bristol Southmead hospitals’ helipads, which were opened in 2014, have seen 2028 landings from six air ambulance providers, in the past six years.

The two helipads had combined building costs of over £3 million, to which the HELP Appeal contributed a total of £750,000.

The ground level helipad at Southmead Hospital, which has seen 1275 landings, is an essential facility for the region’s pivotal Adult Major Trauma Centre.

The rooftop helipad at Bristol Royal Infirmary has seen 753 landings, and directly connects to the adult emergency department at the BRI, as well as Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and the Bristol Heart Institute.

It is also 12 months since Bristol Royal Infirmary’s Deck Integrated Fire Fighting System (DIFFS) was installed. Typically used in offshore oil rigs, the DIFFS can extinguish a fire within 15 seconds by using a series of nozzles built into the helipad which spray water and foam at the touch of a button.

It allows air ambulance crew to continue treating and transferring a critically ill patient to the emergency department as quickly as possible. This was only made possible after the hospital received an additional donation of £574,024 from the HELP Appeal. It became the fourth hospital helipad in the UK to have the state of the art system fitted.

Robert Bertram, Chief Executive of the HELP Appeal said: “It’s great to see how the helipads have made such a difference to a significant number of critically ill patients who have been rescued from across the region.

“Every second counts in getting the a critically ill patient to the expert care they urgently need. We are so proud that the HELP Appeal has helped the hospitals achieve this for all of the patients affected over the past six years.”