PGA partners with Midlands Air Ambulance Charity

The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity has revealed that five per cent of all air ambulance missions undertaken by the service are from golf courses. Becky Tinsley, air operations manager for the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity commented, “We tended to 84 people on golf courses in 2014, that’s one person every four days.”

She added, “A number of people we airlift from golf courses suffer with cardiac arrests, heart attacks or strokes. In some circumstances they were life critical helicopter emergency medical air ambulance missions, and taking in account the often remote location of golf courses, it is imperative we reach, treat and transfer patients to hospital quickly, as when someone suffers with a cardiac arrest for example, every minute counts.”

To help raise awareness of the importance of the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity among golfers, the charity has recently partnered with The PGA. In recent years The PGA has taken an active role in health and safety at golf clubs including playing a key role in supporting the Bernard Gallacher Defibrillator Campaign which aims to install a life-saving AED (automated external defibrillator) in every club in the country.

Robert Maxfield, The PGA’s joint chief operating officer stated, “While Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s statistic is startling, it is sadly reflective of the situation across the country, which is why we launched a campaign prior to Christmas last year, whereby we want to see a defibrillator in every golf club in the UK. We are also keen to support the life-saving work of the Midlands Air Ambulance, which has undoubtedly saved countless lives on golf courses in the region.”

Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is hosting a charity golf day with support from The PGA on Wednesday, 14 October on the Brabazon course at The Belfry. Limited team places and sponsorship are still available. For details email: jon.cottrell@midlandsairambulance.com

SHARE
Previous articleScotland retains Senior Men’s Home International title
Next articleLewis leads Golf Foundation
A graduate of Cardiff University’s highly respected post-graduate magazine journalism course, Andy has successfully edited four different publications across the B2B, trade and consumer sectors. He is skilled at all aspects of the magazine process in addition to editing websites and managing social media channels.