Great Western Air Ambulance Publishes Mid-Year Statistics

Great Western Air Ambulance responded to 1,122 emergency incidents during the first six months of 2026, including 301 helicopter missions and 821 critical care car deployments.

Based at Almondsbury near Bristol, Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) operates a Eurocopter (now Airbus) EC135 T2+ helicopter alongside two critical care response cars, providing pre-hospital emergency medicine across Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire, and parts of Wiltshire.

BRISTOL, United Kingdom — Great Western Air Ambulance Charity has published its operational statistics for the first six months of 2026, reporting 1,122 emergency incidents attended across its service area in southwest England.

The charity's helicopter was dispatched to 301 incidents between January and June, while its critical care cars responded to a further 821 emergencies. The overall total of 1,122 incidents compares with 1,181 during the same period in 2025, 1,159 in 2024, 958 in 2023 and 895 in 2022.

Mission Trends

Helicopter taskings have remained relatively stable over the past five years, with 301 missions in 2026, compared with 309 in 2025, 279 in 2024, 297 in 2023 and 280 in 2022. During the same period, the use of the charity's critical care cars increased significantly, rising from 615 incidents in 2022 to 661 in 2023, peaking at 880 in 2024, before recording 872 in 2025 and 821 during the first half of 2026.

Mission Profile

Medical emergencies accounted for the majority of missions, with 650 incidents, while trauma cases totalled 472. Cardiac arrests remained the single largest incident category with 257 responses, followed by 182 road traffic collisions.

The busiest operating areas were Gloucestershire (310 incidents), Bristol (297), South Gloucestershire (202), North Somerset (140), Wiltshire (69) and Bath & North East Somerset (52), with an additional 52 incidents occurring outside the charity's primary response region.

During the reporting period, crews treated 689 male and 372 female patients. By age group, the service responded to 170 children and teenagers, 722 adults and 168 patients aged over 70.

Background

Great Western Air Ambulance Charity provides pre-hospital emergency medicine across Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire and parts of Wiltshire. The service operates a helicopter alongside critical care response vehicles, enabling specialist doctors and critical care practitioners to reach seriously ill and injured patients by air or road depending on operational requirements and weather conditions.