Former Derbyshire patient urges people to support air ambulance Open Day

A former Derbyshire patient is urging people to attend The Air Ambulance Service’s (TAAS) much-anticipated Open Day this Saturday 24 September in the beautiful grounds of Chatsworth House.

The charity – which operates the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance, Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, and national Children’s Air Ambulance (TCAA)- is hosting a free event to celebrate its lifesaving service, and there are many great things planned.

The public will have the opportunity to see the state-of-the-art Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland 109SP helicopter, the vital critical care cars, meet and greet the frontline crews, and have the unique opportunity to hear from former patients – including Derbyshire Patient, Phil Hulland.

In 2017, lying on his bedroom floor, after suffering a cardiac arrest in his sleep, Phil showed no signs of life for 26 minutes.

He had been given CPR – firstly by his wife Mandy and then by paramedics – and shocked with a defibrillator twice before there was a flicker of activity on the electrocardiogram machine monitoring his condition. This signalled the return of a weak pulse and the start of a long journey towards recovery.

To stabilise Phil before going to hospital, the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance doctor and critical care paramedic present put him into a medically induced coma.

This is normally only carried out in a hospital environment, but the air ambulance crew had the clinical expertise to carry out the procedure which Phil – from Spondon – credits with saving his life.

“Despite the amazing efforts of everyone else who attended me, I don’t think I’d be alive today if I wasn’t put into a coma- It really is a miracle that I’m still here,” said Phil.

“The Air Ambulance Service receives no government funding for their daily missions. They rely entirely on donations for each rescue mission and without DLRAA’s critical care crew, I may not be here today, so it is important that we show them our support at their Open Day this Saturday 24 September,” added Phil.

There will also be live music and a variety of activities and entertainment throughout the day from archery tag and bushcraft demos to games, stone painting, and a gundog display.

With numerous stalls and many food and drink vendors to choose from, it is set to be a fun-filled day for all the family.

TAAS Community Fundraising Executive Tracey Jones commented:

“The open day is really set to be a great day out where the public, supporters, and former patients can see our fabulous service up-close, and learn more about the lifesaving missions we undertake.

“There are so many great things happening, we have stalls from the likes of Stag Interiors and Dogs and Dales, and also the Children’s Air Ambulance kids club #TheCrew will be putting on some great activities with the club’s official mascot, Blade, making an appearance– so we really do encourage people to join us.”

The gates open at 11am and the event finishes at 4pm.

*Please note DLRAA will remain operational so can be called out on lifesaving missions during the day.