1-Apr-2025Source: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
On 21st March 2025, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance celebrated 25 years of our life-saving service to the community. During that time, they have innovated and transformed into one of the most advanced pre-hospital critical care services in the UK. The care that they provide, is only made possible because of charity funding and donations... Read more
17-Sep-2024Source: HeliHub.com
Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance are expecting to take delivery of a second Leonardo AW169 in the next two years. In a recently published newsletter, CEO Charles Hackett announced that the charity “have secured a delivery slot from the helicopter manufacturer and we have the initial design scheme for the operational base upgrade”. The very... Read more
23-Oct-2023Source: Dorset County Hospital
Plans to develop the Dorset County Hospital (DCH) site, including building a brand-new Emergency Department and Critical Care Unit, have been given the green light by local planners. The Trust’s Your Future Hospital programme sets out plans to expand facilities on the site in Dorchester and help meet increasing demand. These include building a new... Read more
22-May-2023Source: NHS
The helicopter landing site at Dorset County Hospital will temporarily move to allow enabling works and construction of the new Emergency Department and Critical Care Unit to take place. Dorset County Hospital has plans to build a brand-new Emergency Department and Critical Care Unit, including a rooftop helipad, on the former Damers School site. To allow... Read more
7-Feb-2023Source: HELP Appeal
The HELP Appeal, which is the only charity in the country dedicated to funding lifesaving hospital and air ambulance base helipads, has donated £26,787 to Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, for new runway lights, helipad lighting and a new windsock at its Henstridge Airfield home. The new lights, due to be installed this month, will... Read more
22-Nov-2022Source: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
The team at Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance were recognised nationally at this year’s Air Ambulance Awards of Excellence, coming out winners in two categories and highly commended in one. Organised by Air Ambulances UK and sponsored by Airbus, these annual awards took place on Monday 14th November to celebrate and recognise the specialist life-saving skills and commitments... Read more
7-Sep-2022Source: Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance
The national awareness week, organised by Air Ambulances UK, will see Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance join other air ambulance charities around the country in a campaign called ‘Critical Moments – Life-Saving Difference’. The campaign highlights how air ambulance charities make a life-saving difference in critical moments, by rapidly delivering advanced pre-hospital care directly to... Read more
22-Jun-2022Source: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
Charles joins the charity, with a wealth of experience across both the commercial and charity sectors as well as experience in working with local government. He spent 17 years at GlaxoSmithKline in a variety of senior roles, including leading the international development, supply and marketing of major new medicines. For the past five years Charles has... Read more
7-Jan-2022Source: HeliHub.com
British EMS operator Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance (D&SAA) have bought out the “other half” of the Leonardo AW169 operated for them by Specialist Aviation Services (SAS). Prior to the transaction date in December, their aircraft was owned by SAS (Dorset & Somerset) Ltd, a company set up in 2017 jointly owned by the charity... Read more
6-Nov-2017Source: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is delighted to announce ‘Pegasus’ as the name for our AW169 helicopter. In August, we announced a competition to find a name for our aircraft and entries immediately began flooding in. By the time the closing date arrived, nearly one thousand entries had been received. A panel of judges which... Read more
21-Aug-2017Source: HELP Appeal
The first air ambulance landed on the Royal Bournemouth Hospital’s (RBH) new helipad yesterday, following a complete rebuild, funded by the HELP Appeal. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance’s AW169 landed on the new pad, which allows larger aircraft to land and to land during the night. The rebuild, which came to £119,000, was completely funded... Read more
18-Aug-2017Source: HELP
The first air ambulance landed on the Royal Bournemouth Hospital’s (RBH) new helipad yesterday, following a complete rebuild, funded by the HELP Appeal. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance’s AW169 landed on the new pad, which allows larger aircraft to land and to land during the night. The rebuild, which came to £119,000, was completely funded... Read more
15-Jun-2017Source: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is delighted to announce that its new AgustaWestland 169 (AW169) helicopter entered into service. This becomes the first AW169 to enter air ambulance operational service in the UK and is the culmination of years of planning and development. The aircraft was selected following an extensive evaluation process. Its outstanding characteristics,... Read more
12-Jun-2017Source: HeliHub.com
Following our article “EASA clears British AW169 air ambulances to fly“, HeliHub.com can now confirm that the first three AW169s enter service today after delivery from Specialist Aviation Services on Friday 9th. Late in the afternoon the company flew a photo sortie with the aircraft for Kent, Surrey & Sussex, Dorset & Somerset, and Lincolnshire... Read more
11-May-2017Source: HeliHub.com
Four AW169 helicopters have so far been delivered from the factory in Italy to British operator Specialist Aviation Services (SAS), but none are yet in service. With the medical interior completion by SAS, various aspects of the work have required STC approval from EASA, and while that part would always be expected to take some... Read more
23-Nov-2016Source: Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance
Over 250 guests celebrated the best and brightest from the air ambulance community on Monday evening at the national Air Ambulance Awards of Excellence 2016. Awards hosts, BBC News reporter and presenter Sophie Long and Helicopter Heroes presenter Rav Wilding handed out 11 Awards to outstanding individuals and teams, whose stories were inspirational, astonishing and... Read more
19-Mar-2015Source: DSAA
This week, fifteen years ago, we were preparing to fly our very first mission. At 08.00 am on Saturday 21st March, the helicopter and crew went online for the very first time. Less than an hour later at 08.52 am, we were deployed to our first incident. The fifteen year milestone has been reached with... Read more
17-Jul-2014Source: AgustaWestland
AgustaWestland is pleased to announce that the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance has selected an AW169 twin-engine light intermediate helicopter to perform emergency medical service missions. The aircraft will start operations from its base at Henstridge on the Dorset / Somerset border in South West England in 2016 and will be able to reach any... Read more
17-Jun-2014Source: DSAA
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance announced this afternoon that it had carried out its 10,000th mission. The Charity’s EC135 helicopter, Pilot Max Hoskins, Paramedic Mark Williams and Consultant Doctor Ian Mews attended the incident which took place in the Shaftesbury area at 13.45 pm today. The patient, Carissa Ealson (24) was taking part in a... Read more
14-May-2014Source: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
The new £3 million helideck at Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) was used for the first time on Friday 9 May by Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance just two days after its official opening. Air ambulances across the region have spent the last few weeks undergoing orientation test flights for the new helideck which is located... Read more
12-Feb-2013Source: Western Daily Press
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance flew rescue missions 615 times last year (see full story)... Read more
28-Mar-2012Source: D&S Air Ambulance
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance announced the appointment of Simon Michell (pictured) and Roger Morgan as Chairman and Vice-Chairman to the Board of Trustees earlier today. The duo took over the reins from former Chairman, Terri Gill and Vice-Chairman Colin Harrisson. Simon has been on the board of trustees since 2006 and Roger since 2009.... Read more
30-Jan-2012Source: Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
Welcome everyone, to the new member of our team…. Our cheeky little cartoon helicopter was given the name ‘Dasher’ at 5.00 pm this evening. Dasher was created by Dave Hindson, a paramedic and friend of the Charity and the naming competition was launched in our ‘Beeline’ magazine last November. We had some really great entries which we... Read more
5-May-2011Source: Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance (DSAA) has completed its 8,000th mission since its launch in March, 2000. The milestone call-out was to take an 18-month-old burns victim from Shaftesbury to Salisbury District Hospital, which has a specialist burns unit. During 2010, the Air Ambulance attended 788 incidents, 51 per cent of them (403) in Dorset... Read more
22-Jun-2010Source: Bournemouth Echo
Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance operates an EC135 from Henstridge Airfield in UK. This superseded an earlier Bo105... Read more
1-Dec-2009Source: Dorset Echo
The Somerset and Dorset Air Ambulance charity is trying to track down as many of the 7,000 people it has helped since its launch in March 2000.... Read more
