Devon Air Ambulance’s H135s: Making a difference when every minute counts

The H135 play a critical medical transport role in the United Kingdom, being well-equipped to meet the specific needs of a medical-based mission. Devon Air Ambulance, a charity-based air ambulance service serving England’s south western county of Devon, has been flying missions since 1992 and purchased its first of two H135s in 2008.

“When we first bought the H135, we asked ourselves how we could best meet the needs of the patient,” says Nigel Hare, operations director at Devon Air Ambulance. “When responding to patients who are in life-threatening situations, it is essential that every aspect of our service provides the very best chance for the patient to survive. Every minute matters, so we need a reliable aircraft that is quick to deploy and has a fast cruise speed so that we can reach the patient and transfer them to hospital quickly, while also being smooth and stable in flight to prevent the patient’s condition from deteriorating,” says Hare. “The additional requirement of having an aircraft with sufficient endurance to enable us to respond to the next patient resulted in us choosing the H135.”