Mull’s new lifesaving helipad has officially landed.
A £418,000 donation from the HELP Appeal, the country’s only charity dedicated to funding hospital helipads, covered the entire cost of its build and radio-controlled lighting close to Mull and Iona Community Hospital on land donated by neighbours Andy and Naomi Knight.
Mull and Iona Community Trust is responsible for overseeing the upkeep of the state-of-the-art pad built by TSL contractors and in winter conditions, volunteers will take on de-icing duties.
Scottish Air Ambulance and larger HM Coastguard helicopters can now land beside the hospital any time of the day or night, which will avoid the need for a patient to be transferred by land ambulance to the Glenforsa airstrip, which is 15 minutes away by road.
This means specialist hospital treatment at another A&E hospital or major trauma centre on the mainland can be accessed within the Golden Hour, improving outcomes for air ambulance patients, such as Mull rally driver Scott Paterson.
Scott needed an urgent transfer to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital after losing control of his rally car, which careered down an embankment, rolling over several times.
After being assessed at the island hospital and having double compression fractures in his spine, he had to be transferred 15 minutes by road to Glenforsa airstrip over extremely bumpy terrain.
Scott was well looked after by Mull medics but said: “The bumpy journey to Glenforsa was very uncomfortable and I was so worried not knowing how bad my injuries were at the time or if they could become life changing or life threatening.
"This helipad is going to help so many people like me whenever they need immediate access to a specialist trauma centre.”
NHS Highland’s senior charge nurse for Mull and Iona Community Hospital Cheryl-Ann Paterson said: “It is going to make such a difference to the health outcomes for our patients and the whole NHS team across the island are united in their thanks.”
So far The HELP Appeal has funded or is funding 15 helipads across Scotland including Campbeltown, Barra and Arran with the latest project on Gigha.
In all the charity has funded over 45 helipads across the UK, which have seen over 27,000 landings, with 50 more in the pipeline.
Watch this footage of Coastguard Rescue’s practice landing on the new helipad. Footage courtesy of Mull and Iona Community Trust General Manager Moray Finch.
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