Our Vision

24/7 Emergency Medical Service for the most critically ill and injured.

Our Mission

Provision of emergency pre-hospital medical services, training, research and education for Devon and surrounding area.

Our values

Our values are important to us because they inform our actions and our behaviour.

exemplary patient care 

  • caring
  • patient led
  • evidence led
  • developed through experience

a safe and just culture 

  • transparent
  • fair and inclusive 
  • ethically aware

community  

  • owned by and for the people of Devon
  • locally engaged
  • regional and national collaboration

excellence  

  • professional
  • Innovative
  • effective
  • robust governance

Read more about how we aim to deliver our vision, support our missions and demonstrate our values in our 5-year Strategic Plan. 

Proud of our independence

Devon Air Ambulance Trust is a registered charity. Our aim is:

To relieve sickness and injury in and around the county of Devon through provision of an emergency Air Ambulance Service.

In 2018 it cost £7.5 million to run the service. In addition, we need to raise around £1m more to build capital funds in order to ensure we can replace our aircraft after ten years’ service and to meet significant maintenance and repair costs, plus ambitious plans to extend our operating hours.

The Charity is wholly independent meaning that through the Devon Air Ambulance Trading Company (DAATC) it has its own Air Operating Certificate (AOC). This means effectively the service and Charity are able to make more operational decisions without the need for a third party, therefore we can liaise directly with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Your Air Ambulances

Devon’s two Air Ambulances are state-of-the-art Airbus Helicopters. They are both owned by the Charity, which has many advantages over leasing. In fact, we have realised savings of over £12,000 per month per aircraft since we bought them.

Our wholly owned subsidiary trading company holds the Air Operator's Certificate making the service truly independent, with full control over all operational and developmental improvements.

We work closely with the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) which deploys the helicopters. Until spring 2019 our paramedic aircrew were employed by SWASFT and seconded to us, but we have since brought our crews 'in-house' and they are now employees of Devon Air Ambulance.

The Charity, together with the other Air Ambulance charities under the SWASFT umbrella, funds a specialist HEMS desk (helicopter emergency medical services) staffed by a team of six, based at the 999 control room. They monitor tasking and despatch the aircraft in order to optimise availability for the patients most in need.

Our patients are at the heart of everything we do. Read our patient stories