Air ambulances now cover 90% of the population

Between March and August 2001, the network responded to 6,774 callouts, including 3,201 road accidents.

John Dawson, director of public policy for the AA which supports the NAAAS and spokesperson for the NAAAS said: "Air ambulances work as part of the health service and with other emergency services to ensure a rapid response to accidents and to transport the seriously injured to hospital.

"They are, increasingly, the first emergency service to arrive at the scene of some of the country's most serious accidents.

"We know that the speed that air ambulances achieve can often make the difference between life and death, and also increases patients ability to recover in the long term."

Speed of response

Richard Diment, chief executive of the Ambulance Service Association told BBC News Online: "The biggest thing is that in remote areas we can get to the patient quickly

Ambulance services provide paramedic staff for the air ambulance services, and are responsible for despatching them.

We know that the speed that air ambulances achieve can often make the difference between life and death

John Dawson, NAAAS spokesman

"And if you send an air ambulance to do the job, you've actually got a conventional land ambulance left to do another job."

He added that air ambulances can be used to transfer patients between hospitals or for specialist treatment, which would take much longer in a conventional ambulance.

Running an air ambulance on average costs �720,000 a year.

Each is staffed by paramedics, though some services carry doctors and specialists.

The second most common reason for air ambulances to be called out is medical emergencies such as heart attacks.

Sport and leisure related accidents, such as horse riding incidents, account for 8% of call outs, while work-related incidents, such as farm accidents account for 3%.

The cost of two flights in an air ambulance costs �1,000 - the same as a day in intensive care.