The shortlisted nominees for the Air Ambulances UK Awards of Excellence 2021, sponsored by BMW Group, have been announced today.

The Awards recognise the professionalism, excellence and dedication of the air ambulance community and the winners will be revealed at the awards ceremony, being held virtually this year, on Friday 3rd December 2021.

The Independent Judging Panel including trauma specialist Professor Karim Brohi, Debra Alcock-Tyler, CEO the Directory of Social Change, and Steve Irving, Executive Officer of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, met and considered all entries made across the ten award categories. After lengthy deliberation and discussion, the panel was pleased to shortlist the following (shown in no particular order):

Campaign of the Year

• Air Ambulance Northern Ireland
• Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance
• East Anglian Air Ambulance

Charity Team of the Year

• East Anglian Air Ambulance
• Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex
• Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance
• Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance

Charity Volunteer of the Year

• Myrtle Irvine, Air Ambulance Northern Ireland
• Rev Ross Dilnot, Thames Valley Air Ambulance
• David Mantz, Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex

Critical Care Practitioner of the Year

• James Yates, Great Western Air Ambulance Charity
• Jo Petheram & Kirsty Caswell, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
• Liam Sagi, East Anglian Air Ambulance

Doctor of the Year

• Phil Hyde, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
• Anne Booth, MAGPAS
• Asher Lewinsohn, Thames Valley Air Ambulance

Innovation of the Year

• Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
• MAGPAS
• Thames Valley Air Ambulance

Lifetime Achievement

• To be announced at the virtual ceremony

Pilot of the Year

• Alan Petch, Great Western Air Ambulance Charity
• Dave Young, Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance
• Matt Sandbach, East Anglian Air Ambulance

Special Incident of the Year

• Cornwall Air Ambulance
• Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
• East Anglian Air Ambulance
• Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance

Young Person of the Year

• Ryan Milligan, Air Ambulance Northern Ireland
• Ned Smith, Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust
• Hattie Rowe, Great Western Air Ambulance Charity
• Henry Carpenter, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity
• Murray Miles, Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex

The judging panel agreed the award nominations were of an exceptionally high standard and they were faced with some very difficult decisions when deciding on the shortlist.

Simmy Akhtar, CEO of Air Ambulances UK, said:

“The professionalism, excellence and dedication of all those who work within the air ambulance community is extraordinary. We are incredibly proud that these Awards recognise their vital contribution to providing advanced pre-hospital critical care to people who suddenly become critically injured or ill, saving lives and improving patient outcomes every day across the UK.

“I would like to thank everyone who made a nomination for the Awards this year. Each nomination was hugely inspiring and a great testament to the incredible lifesaving work of the UK’s air ambulance charities. Our judging panel had to make some very difficult decisions and we look forward to announcing the winners at our ceremony next month.”