Devon’s air ambulance will now be able to land in Honiton at night.
A new site has been provided at Allhallows Playing field, meaning the air ambulance can reach residents until midnight every day - and later when the service is extended into the early hours.
The new night landing site is a result of work carried out by Honiton Town Council, East Devon District Council, the charity itself, and Honiton Rugby Club (RFC).
Dave Stopper Todd, president of Honiton RFC, said: “We all know how important the air ambulance can be when you really need it and so we felt as a club that this was a really important project for us to support, for the benefit of the whole community.
“It will mean the air ambulance can get access when required close to the centre of the town at night and quickly transport patients to hospital.”
A new remote switching system, funded by the town council, has been installed at the rugby club to enable the air ambulance to remotely turn on floodlighting at Allhallows Playing Field.
This allows the landing area to be floodlit ahead of the medical team’s arrival.
Toby Russell, from Devon Air Ambulance, said: “It’s great to have a night landing site now operational in Honiton, meaning we can not only deliver emergency pre-hospital care right into the heart of the community but also quickly transfer patients to specialist treatment centres.”
Honiton’s mayor, John Zarczynski, added: “It gives me much pleasure to say council involvement towards provision of funding for the Devon Air Ambulance night landing site has helped this vital service to be extended to Honiton and surrounding communities.”
In the event of an emergency, Honiton Rugby Club has also partnered up with the ‘Transformation Team UK’, which has fitted a defibrillator on the side of its clubhouse for public access.
Earlier this year, Colyton unveiled a new night landing site for the air ambulance at its Peace Memorial Playing Fields.
There are more than 35 fully operational night landing sites up and running, an in excess of 130 in development throughout Devon.
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