A LIFE saving charity is launching a campaign to help highlight the rising number of car accidents.

As the number of road traffic collisions attended by Midlands Air Ambulance Charity continues to rise each year, the emergency pre-hospital service has launched ‘Drive4Life’ in partnership with M6toll, to highlight the increasing cost of crashes to the charity.

Each air ambulance mission costs the organisation £2,500, which is solely funded through the generosity of the communities it serves and local businesses. In 2017, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity attended 664 crashes which cost a shocking £1.7million.

Ian Roberts, air operations manager for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said: “Due to the nature of our operation, and the ability to bring enhanced pre-hospital care to the roadside, the critical care paramedics and doctors often called out to some of the most badly injured patients involved in road-related incidents."

“Unfortunately, there is an upward trend in the number of collisions we attend year on year, which has a cost impact on the charity. In 2015, we attended 493 collisions, which cost £1.232million and in 2016, the 541 collisions cost £1.352million.

We saw a 23 per cent increase in collisions in 2017, which equated to almost two per day and cost £1.7million. Already this year we have attended 405 collisions, which cost £1.012million."

Sofia Voutianitis, corporate partnerships manager for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, explains Drive4Life: “Having the very best clinical care gives patients the best chance of survival and full recovery, which is why Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s support at an incident scene is so vital in an emergency.

“Due to the rising number of collisions the aircrew attend each year, the cost to the charity is naturally on the rise too. As a service, which operates solely on donations, it is extremely important we continue to raise funds to ensure we can respond to these patients whenever we’re needed.

“Drive4Life therefore aims to highlight why it is so important to support us, and as part of the campaign, we are working alongside longstanding corporate partner, M6toll, to encourage car dealerships to get involved and donate to us, every time they sell a vehicle.”

James Hodson, director of motorway operations at M6toll, adds: “We are so proud to support this valuable campaign."