B. Braun flying high with YAA and Helipad
B. Braun not only supports the Yorkshire Air Ambulance but also the Saving Time, Saving Lives Appeal to build a new, state-of-the-art helipad at the city’s Northern General Hospital.
The new helipad – which opened in June - is giving critically ill patients arriving by air ambulance much quicker access to the life-saving medical treatment they need.
Previously, helicopters had to land some distance from the hospital’s Emergency Department, meaning patients had to endure a further journey by land ambulance to reach a specialist trauma team. Now, they are only a trolley push away.
B. Braun Medical Group Chief Executive Hans Hux helped spearhead the £2m campaign as chairman of Sheffield Hospitals Charity’s Helipad Appeal Committee.
He said: “We have been a keen supporter of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance for nearly 15 years and know what a vital difference this dedicated helipad will make.
“It provides a state-of-the-art facility for air ambulances to land easily, saving precious minutes for patients who can be taken immediately into the Emergency Department for the specialist care they need.”
B. Braun Medical first pledged their support to the Appeal two years ago as part of celebrations to mark B. Braun’s 175th anniversary.
Hans added: “We are incredibly proud of what has been achieved by everyone associated with B. Braun who have helped us to raise such a huge amount of money for such a fantastic project.
“The Westfield Health B. Braun Helipad is a real legacy, acknowledging the 175 years B. Braun has been supporting the provision of health care to local communities across the world.
“It is, and will make such a difference to the pilots and paramedics of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, a charity which is so close to our hearts.”
B. Braun Medical Ltd has been supporting Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) since 2002, donating time, space, expertise and money to the rapid response emergency service which serves five million people across Britain’s largest county.
B. Braun Medical Ltd’s Aesculap Academia General Manager Brian Chapman is also Vice-Chairman of the YAA and has been a driving force in what has been a transformational period in the charity’s history.
In the last three years alone, the YAA has opened a purpose-designed Air Support Unit at Nostell, near Wakefield, and by the end of 2016 it replaced both its ageing aircraft with two, brand new Airbus H145 helicopters.
The £6million, night capable aircraft offer exceptional flight performance and will have significantly lower operational and maintenance costs. The H145s also provide a much larger cabin area to treat patients in flight, and will carry the latest medical equipment.
Yorkshire Air Ambulance, which needs to raise £12,000 every day to keep flying, has been planning the replacement of its MD902 Explorer helicopters for several years.
The purchase and fitting out costs have been met through planned savings, grants, careful budgeting and the amazing generosity of people and organisations across Yorkshire – including B. Braun Medical Ltd.
Paul Gowland, Director of Fundraising for YAA, said: "B. Braun Medical Ltd are probably the charity's most consistent and generous corporate partner and have supported the YAA for more than a decade.
"The team is incredibly generous in offering its skills and expertise to us and we are so very grateful."
B. Braun also sponsor the YAA air crews’ state-of-the-art flying helmets, and have raised substantial sums for the charity over the last 14 years. This includes £10,000 from a special fundraising campaign which ran over six months in 2014 to mark B. Braun’s 175th anniversary year. And more recently, members of staff who won this year’s annual CEO’s award, donated their £3,000 prize to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
Brian Chapman said: “Despite being a vital, life-saving service for the people of this region, Yorkshire Air Ambulance relies on the generosity of individuals and organisations to continue its superb work and so we are very proud to have a long history of supporting the charity.
“Last year we agreed to continue as a sponsor until 2020, and alongside our company-wide initiatives, it was very pleasing for me to hear that, when the choice was handed over to my team, they also wished to underline our ongoing support for such a worthwhile cause as the YAA.”
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance currently fly around 1,250 missions a year and their life-saving work currently features in a UKTV television series Helicopter ER, on the reality channel Really.