Air ambulance crew gets a Formula 1 boost

An air ambulance boss with a history in Formula 1 racing merged the two worlds so rescue crews could pick up tips from the "grid" to get to patients faster.

David Richards, now Cornwall Air Ambulance chairman and formerly a Formula 1 team leader, masterminded the collaboration with Aston Martin, Mercedes, McLaren and Williams.

The service said the tips on "precision, discipline and marginal gains" helped them reduce average take-off time from five minutes to three-and-a-half minutes - a 30% reduction.

Richards said it was also Formula 1's culture of "constant improvement" he wanted his colleagues to absorb - encouraging them to "see the similarities" between the two fast-paced arenas.

Richards, who ran Formula 1 teams Benetton and BAR, told BBC Radio Cornwall the idea was born one day in the helicopter hangar when he was timing take-off procedures.

He said the goal of the collaboration was not to clip "safety aspects" but to make time gains in logistical areas such as equipment management.

Of his Formula 1 era, Richards - now chairman of Motorsports UK - said a highlight of his career was "watching Jenson Button come of age".

Steve Garvey, air operations officer for the service, said: "Success for a Formula 1 team is winning a race, potentially - success for us is getting to a patient in their worse hour of need and making a huge difference and potentially saving their life."

The air ambulance service said learnings from the day included:

• A quick start procedure for take-off after pre-flight checks
• Organisation of equipment so it is "in the same place every time" before take-off to achieve "zero searching and zero hesitation"
• Work on better teamwork, culture and communication under pressure and make use of "high-performance thinking"
• The sense that improvement is "continuous not event-driven", with future "adjustments and tasks" to be trialled to aid further improvements

Tim Bunting, Cornwall Air Ambulance's CEO, said he had no doubt that changes implemented as a result would lead to critical care reaching patients more quickly.

He said they were grateful to the Formula 1 representatives for their "time and expertise".

The service said Sky Sports' coverage of the event at Cornwall Air Ambulance's headquarters in Newquay as part of the British Grand Prix, meanwhile, had "introduced millions of people" to the service.

"The people of Cornwall should be very proud of the air ambulance," added Richards.

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