VIDEO: We also chat to Air Ambulance pilot during call-out to The Byes

Sidmouth Nub News was live at the scene when the Devon Air Ambulance landed at The Byes this lunchtime.

The Exeter-based helicopter had been called out to an adult female patient at 12.52pm today (Thursday, September 2).

While the paramedics went to the patient's aid, we caught up with the pilot, Jesse Konstam, as he waited for them to report back.

He explained that he had never landed the helicopter in The Byes before but it had been the nearest suitable landing area to the patient's location, thought to be a nearby house.

He said: "We always identify where the incident is and then we orbit round to find somewhere reasonably close with access, and this was the only place we could find."

He added that it was their first call-out of the day, but probably wouldn't be the only one: "I think on average we go out two or three times a day. This happens to be the first one today, but we might get two or three more later on."

An intensely busy year for the emergency crews

This has been a particularly busy year for the Devon Air Ambulance. Their crews have been tasked to 1082 missions between January 1 and the end of August. This compares with a total of 1,507 incidents in the whole of 2020.

As the air ambulance trust is a charity, all this vital work is paid for by donations from the public, often collected through fundraising events.

Jesse said: "We very much rely on people's goodwill, we're funded by the generosity of the people of Devon."

In today's incident the patient wasn't airlifted to hospital. This is often the case; the paramedics may give urgent first-aid at the scene so that the patient doesn't need to be rushed to hospital by air, in which case they will be transported by land ambulance. For this reason, the charity is keen to correct the misconception that if the patient isn't taken on board, the air ambulance 'wasn't really needed'.

To find out more about the Devon Air Ambulance's work and how you can support it, visit their website.

To read about a local event raising money for Devon Air Ambulance, click here.