Sussex Police Air Operations Unit

Last updated

The Sussex Police Air Operations Unit, popularly referred to by the aircrew's police net callsign, Hotel 900, [1] was a unit of Sussex Police that provided emergency air support in the English county of Sussex. [1] [2] [3] In October 2010, the unit was merged with the Air Support Units of Surrey Police and Hampshire Constabulary to form the South East Air Support Unit, which officially commenced operations in April 2011. [4] The unit operated a MD Helicopters MD Explorer helicopter based at Shoreham Airport, [3] [5] with aircrew provided by both Sussex Police and the South East Coast Ambulance Service, and flew sorties at the request of police control at Lewes, [1] or the joint air ambulance control desk at Coxheath, Kent. [2]

Contents

Operations

Hotel 900 was crewed by a pilot, a Sussex Police constable or sergeant air observer, and a paramedic seconded from South East Coast Ambulance Service, who was also trained as an air observer. [1] The last helicopter was an MD 902 Explorer and operated from Shoreham Airport. [3] Operational since February 2000, [1] the Explorer replaced an earlier helicopter which had been in service since 1987. [6] The unit was available for missions from 08:00 to 01:30 Monday to Saturday, and 09:00 to midnight on Sundays, although out-of-hours cover was provided for serious incidents. [1] [7] Hotel 900 completed nearly 1,500 sorties every year, of which almost 25% were for ambulance purposes, with the remainder consisting of police tasks, such as searching for offenders or fleeing suspects, identifying suspect or stolen vehicles, facilitating vehicle pursuits, transport of police officers, and search & rescue. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

Great North Air Ambulance British air ambulance service

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is a registered charity based in the United Kingdom. It operates a dedicated helicopter emergency service for the North of England with three aircraft, serving North Yorkshire, the North-East, Cumbria and Scottish borders.

Brighton City Airport

Brighton City Airport, also commonly known as Shoreham Airport, is located in the parish of Lancing in West Sussex, England. It has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.

Londons Air Ambulance Charity British helicopter medical service

London's Air Ambulance Charity is a registered charity that operates a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) dedicated to responding to serious trauma emergencies in and around London. Using a helicopter from 08:00 to sunset and rapid response vehicles by night, the service performs advanced medical interventions at the scene of the incident in life-threatening, time-critical situations.

Sussex Police Police force in Sussex, England

Sussex Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of East Sussex and West Sussex. The force is headquartered in Malling House, Lewes, East Sussex.

Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Service

The Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Service is a helicopter surf lifesaving service that operates in Australia.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) is a dedicated helicopter emergency air ambulance for the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It was established in October 2000, and currently operates two Airbus H145 aircraft. It is an independent charity that relies solely on the donations of individuals and organisations.

MD Helicopters MD Explorer

The MD Helicopters MD Explorer is a light twin utility helicopter. Designed in the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems, it is currently produced by MD Helicopters. There have been two models, the original MD 900, and its successor, the MD 902.

Cornwall Air Ambulance

The Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust is a charity that provides a dedicated helicopter emergency service for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The service also has two critical care cars that operate when the helicopter is unable to fly. Together they attend about 1,100 incidents per year. As of December 2018, the helicopter had flown over 28,000 missions.

Air ambulances in the United Kingdom

Air ambulance services in the United Kingdom provide emergency medical functions, patient transport between specialist centres, or medical repatriation. Services are provided by a mixture of organisations, operating either helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft. All emergency air ambulance helicopters in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland are operated by charities, while Scotland has one charity service in addition to its two NHS-funded helicopters. Fixed-wing air ambulances, used for patient transport, may be government or privately operated.

Police aviation in United Kingdom provides the British police with an aerial support unit to assist them in pursuit, surveillance and tracking. All police aviation in England and Wales comes under the National Police Air Service (NPAS), while Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland operate independent units.

Sussex Ambulance Service was the ambulance service for the County of Sussex in England from 1 April 1995 until 1 July 2006, when it was succeeded by a South East Coast Ambulance Service also covering Surrey and Kent.

RAF Search and Rescue Force British helicopter organisation, 1941-2016

The Royal Air Force Search and Rescue Force was the Royal Air Force organisation which provided around-the-clock aeronautical search and rescue cover in the United Kingdom, Cyprus and the Falkland Islands, from 1986 until 2016.

Ambulance Victoria

Ambulance Victoria (AV), a Victorian agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, is the statutory provider of pre-hospital emergency care and ambulance services in Victoria. Ambulance Victoria was formed on 1 July 2008 with the merger of the Metropolitan Ambulance Service (MAS), Rural Ambulance Victoria (RAV), and the Alexandra District Ambulance Service (ADAS). Ambulance Victoria has undergone significant reform since 2008.

Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex British helicopter ambulance service

The Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) is an organisation providing emergency medical services through the provision of a helicopter air ambulance covering the three English counties of Kent, Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex, which are served by the South East Coast Ambulance Service. The service is funded by the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Trust which is a registered charity, raising money from public and private donations in excess of £15 million every year. The charity's aircraft are based and maintained at Redhill Aerodrome in Surrey. Its headquarters and forward operating base are at Rochester Airport in Kent.

Kent Air Ambulance

The Kent Air Ambulance was an organisation providing emergency medical services through the provision of a helicopter air ambulance covering the county of Kent in South East England. The helicopter was funded by the Kent Air Ambulance Trust, which was a registered charity, raising money from public and private donations in excess of £4m every year between Kent, Sussex and Surrey. In June 2007, the service extended it areas of operation to Surrey and Sussex requiring an additional helicopter. It now operates as Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex.

Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore Operator of police and air ambulance helicopters in the UK

Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore, formerly Bond Air Services, is an operator of air ambulance, police, and offshore windfarm helicopters in the UK. Babcock operates a mixed fleet of light twin-engined helicopters custom designed to perform specific and specialised tasks. It operates from 22 bases around the UK and in Ireland. It has maintenance facilities in Staverton and Glasgow.

Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance

The Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance is an air ambulance based at RAF Waddington which covers the administrative counties of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire and the unitary authorities of Nottingham, North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire, England. The Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance Charitable Trust is a charity in its own right and not funded by the NHS

Magpas UK emergency medical charity organisation

Magpas Air Ambulance is an emergency medical charity that provides pre-hospital emergency care, in the air or on land, including treatments normally only available in hospital. The charity operates 24/7 from its base in Cambridgeshire and is activated to seriously ill or injured patients in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and the East of England – caring for a population of over 10 million.

Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Trust (EHAAT) is a charity air ambulance service providing a free, life-saving Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) for the critically ill and injured of Essex, Hertfordshire and surrounding areas.

Luxembourg Air Rescue

Luxembourg Air Rescue (LAR) is a private, humanitarian air rescue organisation in Luxembourg, the Greater Region surrounding Luxembourg or worldwide through the operation of its helicopters and air ambulances.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "H900 - The Eye in the Sky". Sussex Police. Retrieved 29 April 2009.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. 1 2 "Ambulance service initiates radical shift in Air Ambulance deployment". South East Coast Ambulance Service. 18 December 2006. Retrieved 29 April 2009.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  3. 1 2 3 "Police Helicopters N-Z". UK Emergency Aviation. Retrieved 29 March 2009.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  4. ↑ "South East Air Support Unit officially launched". Sussex Police. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  5. ↑ "Sussex Police Air Support Unit". Shoreham Airport.
  6. ↑ "Life saving service scrambled into the skies day and night in West Sussex". Midhurst and Petworth Observer. 3 April 2008.
  7. ↑ "New night role for Sussex Police Helicopter". Mid Sussex Times. 27 March 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.