Wiltshire Air Ambulance carried out 1,238 missions in 2020 – a record number since the charity became a stand-alone air ambulance in 2015.

In Salisbury, Wiltshire Air Ambulance was called to emergencies in the city a total of 96 times, around once every four days.

Of those 96, 52 were attended by the air ambulance helicopter and 44 by the rapid response vehicle. 

There were a further 20 incidents across Amesbury, Tidworth, Tisbury, and Mere.

David Philpott, the chief executive of Wiltshire Air Ambulance, said: “Our aircrew has continued to operate on the front line throughout the pandemic, responding to incidents during a very challenging year – and 2021 looks like being just as difficult.

“We had to alter our operations suitably to ensure we could still be there for the people of Wiltshire and surrounding areas.

“With all of our major events cancelled and community fundraising impacted by the pandemic, this has clearly had an effect on our income.

“That said, we have been taken aback by the response from our kind donors, who have surpassed all expectations for donations received in the past 12 months. For that, we are so grateful.”

Of the 1,238 missions last year, 568 were by helicopter and 670 were in the rapid response vehicles (cars).

The largest number of call outs were to cardiac emergencies - 383 - almost one in three missions, while 208 were to road traffic collisions - around one in six missions and a drop of two per compared to 2019.

The charity says its team were called to a larger number of falls (178) in 2020, up by four per cent.

The figures also include 71 medical collapses, 64 assaults and 64 sporting injuries, of which 34 were horse riding accidents.

A total of 108 incidents involved children, while more than one in three missions - 430 - taking place at night.

Breakdown of incidents by month:

January – 103

February – 86

March – 79

April – 68

May – 87

June – 121

July – 126

August – 126

September – 115

October – 90

November – 114

December – 123

Wiltshire Air Ambulance receives no regular direct funding from the government or National Lottery grants. Each year the charity needs to raise £3.75 million to continue flying and saving lives.

For more information about the charity go to wiltshireairambulance.co.uk