@KSSAirAmbulance /KSSAirAmbulance /KSSAirAmbulance /KSSAirAmbulance
Taking A&E to the patient
The Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance - a life-saving charity
The Air Ambulance is an independent
charitable healthcare provider working with the Ambulance Service. We are not part of the NHS and we are funded almost entirely by voluntary donations.
We provide a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS).
With our two helicopters we can reach any part of our region within 25 minutes.
Our two crews each consist of a minimum of 1 doctor and 1 paramedic, trained in advanced pre-hospital care, and at least 1 pilot.
Specialist clinical procedures, normally only available in A&E, can be delivered to the patient at the scene, 24/7.
We take patients quickly and directly by land or air to the most appropriate hospital, best able to treat their injuries.
“So many people helped and looked after us but I
honestly believe the actions of the Air Ambulance saved
his life. It’s frightening to think the service just relies on
donations.”
Peering under her son’s bed, Kaylie Parvin could see his eyes blinking in the darkness. “Found you,” she grinned at two-year-old Louis, tickling his tummy.
“Well done, Mummy!” he giggled, crawling out from under the bed. It was September 24th, 2013, and little
Louis loved playing hide-and-seek. But Kaylie didn’t have time for another game… it was her 25th birthday party and her husband Peter was taking her out for dinner to her favourite restaurant.
Louis was being looked after by his grandparents Peter and Lesley, and stayed at their house overnight. The next day, Lesley needed to clean a rental property they owned, so took Louis with her. Bounding about with endless energy, Louis started playing hide-and-seek and ran into one of the bedrooms. As his Nan turned her back for just a moment, she heard a big bang and ran into the room to find Louis lying on the carpet, unconscious. The toddler had somehow managed to pull a heavy wardrobe onto himself. She gave Louis mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and frantically dialled 999 as he regained consciousness.
South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) paramedics Chris Bosworth and Phillip Richardson, and Emergency Care Support Workers Ben Marlow and Tina West, were first on scene. Chris said: “It was instantly
obvious that Louis had a substantial head injury with the high likelihood that he had fractured his skull. The Air Ambulance team arrived pretty soon after my assessment. I then handed over to them before helping with the treatment they provided.”
Air Ambulance doctors Malcolm Tunnicliff and Simon Wood, and critical care paramedics Jez Loseby and Richard de Coverly, put Louis in an induced coma to protect his airway and take control of his breathing in an effort to maintain the correct pressure in his brain, this advanced medical procedure is usually performed only in hospital. By this time, one of the paramedics had called Kaylie and Peter who arrived at the house within minutes to find Louis lying on a stretcher with an oxygen mask on his face.
Air Ambulance Pilot Captain Kevin Goddard then flew Louis to the specialist neurological centre at King’s College Hospital, in just 25 minutes. There was only room for one of them in the helicopter so Kaylie went with Louis while Peter drove to the hospital and arrived an hour later.
Scans confirmed that Louis had a fractured skull and a bleed on his brain. The fracture had actually helped save his life because it released the pressure on his brain. Louis spent four days in intensive care before being moved to a high dependency ward. He was transferred to Pembury Hospital a week later and despite doctors’ fears of lasting brain damage, he has since made a full recovery.
Peter, said: “It really was touch and go. Louis is such a bright, lively and cheeky boy so it was horrible to see him
lying there with tubes coming out of him.” He added: “So many people helped and looked after us but I honestly believe the actions of the Air Ambulance saved his life. It’s frightening to think the service just relies on donations.”
How your donations help
Any donation, big or small, can help us save lives
Bubble Wrap
RTC Helmet
Kit
Medical Training
Aviation Training
£1 - Could buy you a small bottle of fizzy pop
Could buy us a sheet of bubble wrap to keep a
patient warm.
£120 - Could buy a push bike
Could buy us a protective Road Traffic Collision (RTC)
helmet, used by our crews inside crashed vehicles.
£400 - Could buy you two train tickets to Paris
Could buy us a new kit-bag (they last around 3 years).
£1,000 - Could buy you a 50” Plasma Television
Could pay for a medical training course for either a
Doctor or a Paramedic.
£1,500 - Could buy you a return flight to Australia
Could pay for an aviation training course for a Doctor
or Paramedic.
£2,600 - Could buy you a hot tub
Could pay for a potentially life-saving
mission
One of our patients
Fundraising Ideas
How would you like to support us?
Mr & Mrs Richardson
Double 100 Cycle Challenge
Ashington Village Ball
Lingfield Golf Day
Canterbury City Council
Celebrations - You may decide to mark a special day or
perhaps share the memory of a loved one?
www.kssairambulance.org.uk/involved/shareyouranniversary
Challenges - From walks, runs and races over land and
water, to sky-diving and parachuting, you can start
raising sponsorship now.
www.kssairambulance.org.uk/involved/challenge
Events - Whether you are an individual, business or
group in the community, you could support us through
a quiz night, fete, cake sale or ball.
www.kssairambulance.org.uk/involved/registeryourevent
Sports & Recreation - Could you raise funds by
holding a Golf Day, running a Salsa Class or perhaps
hosting a Girls Night In?
www.kssairambulance.org.uk/involved/support
One-off Fundraising - How easy would you find it
not using social media? Or maybe your school or work
could Wear Red Instead?
www.kssairambulance.org.uk/involved/onlinetoolkit
There are so many ways to get involved and support the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance, helping us to save lives in your region.
For legal advice make sure you read our Fundraising Guidelines.
If you have need further advice, please do not hesitate to contact our Community Team by calling 01622 833833.
Challenge & Fitness
Would you like to take on an adventure or challenge of a lifetime for the Kent, Surrey &
Sussex Air Ambulance?
There are many outdoor challenges that offer a ‘once in
a lifetime’ opportunity to do something adventurous
and fun while raising money for the charity.
Perhaps you would like to organise a virtual challenge?
A group of you could raise sponsorship by swimming
the distance of the channel from your school
swimming pool. Or even run the distance across a
desert around your playing field?
Our Community Team are on hand to help, simply call
01622 833833 for advice, you could then build your
own fundraising page online.
Funky Footwear Friday
The children wear their funkiest footwear to school for the day and donate £1 to the Air Ambulance. It’s a good fun day and the pupils can still wear their school uniform.
Dear Parents,
Fundraising with the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance
The Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance attends incidents that could happen to anyone,
anywhere, during their everyday life, whether that be an adult’s drive to work or a child’s
journey to school. As an independent healthcare provider the charity relies almost entirely
on voluntary donations and it is only through the generosity of supporters that the
medical teams are able to provide this essential life-saving service 24 hours a day, 365 days
a year.
We are delighted to be supporting the air ambulance who will deliver an educational and
interactive package. It is important to show how the charity serves our community and
how important it is to work together to keep the helicopter flying.
Your child will be given activity sheets and a presentation will be shown in due course. We
have also decided to support by raising sponsorship through a challenge event decided
and organised by the students, encouraging activity, teamwork and a healthy lifestyle.
A target board will be on display to mark targets met by the pupils and to show our overall
progress.
If you need any further or supporting information, please do not hesitate to contact
our Community Team by calling 01622 833833.
Example letter to parents
We understand how important it is it explain to the parents and guardians of the pupils in your care, how thier children are learning to be socially responsible. In order to help you, we have constructed a letter that you may want to amend and use to inform parents and guardians of your choice to support the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance.
Issued: Day Date Month Year PRESS RELEASE
Make your headline short and snappy!
(When) On Friday 1st March, (Who) the Smith Family (Where) from Canterbury
(What) will be holding a Barn Dance (Why)
to raise vital funds for Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance.
(How) From 6.30pm to 11pm The Smith Family will be welcoming guests to join them in Canterbury V
illage Hall for a fun filled evening of dancing raising money for a very deserving cause. There will be lots of fun & games to suit every taste, from a dancing competition to a secret auction.
(Why)The Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance needs approximately £6.5 million a year to keep the life saving helicopters in our skies.
Include a quote from a fundraiser, with the reasons why you selected your local
Air Ambulance this may include an emotive or personal connection.
If you would like more information about how you can help the Kent, Surrey & Sussex
Air Ambulance please visit www. kssairambulance.org.uk or call 01622 833833
---ENDS---Photo: L-R Note to Editors:
The Air Ambulance services in Kent, Surrey and Sussex costs around £6.5 million annually to stay airborne.
Receiving no funding from the National Lottery the charity relies almost entirely upon the generosity of the public to support the two helicopters, based at Marden and Redhill.
Sending your local newspapers a press release is one of the best ways to publicise your event.
To try to ensure that your press release is featured, you need to make sure your piece is as interesting as possible. Local newspapers are contacted frequently by organisations vying for space.
Make sure that the first paragraphs include the crucial information you want the people in your area to know about your event or fundraising efforts, eg who, what, where, when, why and how.
You may also want to include a quote from somone involved and perhaps contact details should interested people want further information.
A good, high resolution photograph to accompany the press release often gives a better chance of being published.
Timing is important too. Think about sending your press release a month before your event takes place and again two weeks later to both prepare and remind the newspapers. Then, no more than a week after the event with a clear picture to maximise your chance of ensuring the most publicity for your event and for us!
Publicise your event
Introduction
• These guidelines are not a substitute for proper legal advice, but aim to ensure that you are aware of the most important questions and how to go about getting the answers.
• These guidelines should only be treated as a minimum checklist of issues to consider - there may well be other issues that are equally important to consider for a particular event.
• Whether you are in the early planning stages or getting near to the day itself, we’re here to answer your fundraising queries and give you any advice you need. Just contact the Fundraising Office on 01622 833833.
• Please note that the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance is fortunate enough to be the beneficiary of approximately 4-5 events per week, every week of the year. This does mean that we are not able to send representatives to every event
Guidelines
• If you are planning to fundraise for the Air Ambulance, please contact a member of the fundraising team so we may support you in your efforts.
• If your fundraising involves collecting money or selling goods in a public place then you need to obtain permission and a licence from the local authority.
• Where events take place on private property you must obtain permission from the owner or manager. • Please do not collect door-to-door, as this is illegal without a licence.
• Selling raffle tickets without a licence from your local council is illegal. Small raffles are fine as long as they don’t contain cash prizes and are part of a larger event. Other raffles may be unlawful so you must check with us before holding these.
• If you are holding a competition you should ask for a copy of our standard “Competition Terms and Conditions”. This will ensure that you operate within the law.
• Useful websites:
Institute of Fundraising www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk
Health and Safety Executive www.hse.gov.uk
Food Standards Agency www.food.gov.uk
www eatwell.gov.uk/keepingfoodsafe
Gift Aid www.hmrc.gov.uk
After the event
• Please make sure that the money you raise or collect reaches the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance as soon as possible, ideally within 4 weeks of the event.
• Always make sure that all the money is counted by two people.
• Make cheques payable to ‘Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance’ or ‘KSSAAT’ and send to FREEPOST KSSAAT (no stamp required), together with a brief description of where and how the money was raised.
• Don’t forget to include your name, address, postcode and details of the event with the amount raised so that we can say ‘thank you’!
• If possible, please send us spare photos and any funny or unusual stories about the event. You could end up as headline news in your local newspaper!
Fundraising Guidelines
The intention of this document is to provide a readily accessible guideline for people thinking of organising a Fundraising Event or Activity in support of the charity.
Safety first
• You must comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and all other relevant subordinate legislation. • The Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance cannot accept responsibility for accidents, so make sure that
your event is safe for all concerned.
• If you are going to be carrying money around take care with personal security. Always use a safe route and always be accompanied and/or carry a personal alarm.
• Make sure that no-one is fundraising, working or spectating in an unsafe environment. Assess the risk involved and make sure that they are eliminated or minimized to an acceptable level, particularly in the case of children. For example, they must have suitable supervision and must only be allowed to use equipment that has been tested and maintained to the required safety standard. Remember that the Health and Safety Act applies to volunteers as well as employees. If you need further information on Health and Safety, visit the following website: www.hse.gov.uk
• With adventure activities - for example, abseiling, parachuting, white water rafting or any other hazardous event, particular care should be taken.
• Always ensure that you, or the owner of the land or building where the event will take place, have insurance for the event.
• If sub-contractors or facilities are used, make sure that they have the requisite experience and insurance facilities.
Publicity
We recommend that fundraisers contact their local radio/TV stations and newspapers directly. The Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Fundraising Office send out information to the media on a weekly basis, usually regarding operational and charity issues, and we find the media far more receptive to individual groups with regard to their attendance or promotion of events. See attached ‘Sample Press Release’.
Ticket Sales
Although the fundraising staff will do their utmost to promote your event and contact the local community we are unable to sell event or raffle tickets.
Prizes
The Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance office is happy to provide you with an official document that you can use to approach local businesses to provide raffle prizes etc. This is called an Authority to Fundraise form. However the Fundraising staff are unable to source raffle or auction prizes for individual events.
Event Insurance
Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Trust is insured for Public and Employers Liability risks at all events which it organises itself. This cover doea not extend to events organised by others in order to raise funds for us and it is incumbent upon the organiser/promoter to satisfy himself/herself that their own organisation has Liability Insurances for the event being planned and, if not, makes specific arrangements to cover that event.
Fundraising Guidelines
AFR number:
Event name:
Your name:
Your school/college:
Telephone number:
Amount raised:
Comments:
(how was the money raised)We would like to ackowledge your kind donation, please provide us with details below.
Address:
Postcode:
Thank you for your kind support
Monies Return Form
Please make cheques payable to Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance and together with the following information, send to FREEPOST KSSAAT or call our office for our account details.
