The air ambulance service provides a vital lifeline to the people of Scotland, particularly those in remote, rural and island communities. It is designed to provide a rapid and reliable service for those communities to allow ease of access to mainland health care facilities.

Unlike the rest of the UK, where air ambulance services are funded by charitable donations, in Scotland the service is fully funded by NHS Scotland.

The Air Ambulance fleet comprises two helicopters and two fixed wing planes, all of which have been purpose built to our specifications.

Two Eurocopter EC 135 helicopters are based in Glasgow and Inverness. They respond to emergency calls and requests from remote, rural or island clinicians to provide medical care and transport to mainland health care facilities.

Two King Air 200c planes are based in Aberdeen and Glasgow and in the main, they respond to medical requests to transfer patients between hospitals.

All of our aircraft operate with paramedics on board and fly over 4,000 missions every year. The Air Ambulance Service works closely with the Emergency Medical Retrieval Service (EMRS), staffed by consultants, nurses and paramedics, providing advice and retrieval services. The Service also works in partnership with the Search and Rescue aircraft of the Ministry of Defence and HM Coastguard.