Sellafield funding helps deliver life-saving air ambulance missions across West Cumbria

Sellafield Ltd has committed £195,990 to the Great North Air Ambulance Service, funding 30 life-saving missions across West Cumbria.

Representatives from the GNAAS and Sellafield Ltd at the Penrith GNAAS Station

Sellafield Ltd has committed £195,990 through its Social Impact, Multiplied (SiX) programme to support the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS).

This will help fund 30 advanced critical care missions across West Cumbria, including the expert clinical team, specialist equipment, medications and helicopter operations.

The investment will enable GNAAS to continue delivering emergency care to some of the region’s most seriously ill and injured patients, providing rapid, life-saving treatment.

GNAAS doctors and paramedics give advanced care at the scene. This can include giving anaesthetic, blood transfusions and other life-saving treatment before patients reach hospital.

In one year, GNAAS attended 129 emergencies in West Cumbria. Many of these cases needed urgent specialist care.

The importance of this work is deeply felt across our local communities,  including within Sellafield.

David Pennington, a Sellafield Ltd employee from Whitehaven, was saved by the service.

David, had been an active runner, completing long-distance runs just days before the incident. After arriving at work, he collapsed suddenly.

I can’t remember anything from that day apart from showing my pass at the gate. It was mind boggling to go from running miles to having a cardiac arrest and waking up days later not knowing what had happened.

Colleagues and on-site emergency responders performed CPR and used a defibrillator to revive him before the air ambulance arrived. The air ambulance team placed David into a medically induced coma and airlifted him to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle.

Talking about this experience, he explained:

My body kept shutting down and I was very confused. The decision was made to put me into a coma and get me to hospital quickly.