By Peter Gould BBC News Online

Paramedic Roddy Brown and his young patient Adam

When Roddy Brown begins his shift as a paramedic, he's never quite sure when or where it will end.

He is one of several NHS staff in the Aberdeen area who volunteer to fly with the Scotland's air ambulance service.

For stints of seven days, he swaps his road ambulance for a twin-engine King Air plane that ferries patients around the highlands and islands of Scotland.

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It often means long hours, and when he returns home he is on standby. So there is no question of enjoying a night out with friends.

But Roddy accepts the limits the job places on his private life.

Responsibility

When you are at 30,000ft you are on your own Roddy Brown Paramedic

"I love flying and aviation in general, so it appealed to me," he says.

"It is a break from everyday routine."

The job is not really that different from being part of the crew of the traditional four-wheeled ambulance.

But once inside the air ambulance, Roddy is in sole charge of the patient.

As the only paramedic on board, he has to constantly monitor his patient to make sure their condition does not change during the flight.

"When you are at 30,000ft, you're on your own," he says.

"You can't ask anyone else for help."

Birthday

I joined Roddy for what turned out to be a fairly typical day on the air ambulance. The shift began at Aberdeen Airport, and we were soon taking off on the short flight to Glasgow.

Some people look on it as a glamorous job, but it is anything but glamorous Roddy Brown Paramedic

Waiting there was his first patient - 12-year-old Adam Keppie, who lives just outside Lerwick in the Shetland Islands.

He suffers from brittle bone syndrome, and after breaking a leg, he needed treatment by specialists in Glasgow. Doctors had said he was now ready to return home, just in time for his 13th birthday.

Adam's mother, Gillian, acknowledges the role of the air ambulance service in helping to ensure that people in outlying areas have access to the best medical care.

"It is literally a lifeline for highland communities," she says.

"When Adam broke his leg there was no other way to get him to hospital in Glasgow.

"The staff are very supportive and they do a wonderful job."

Touchdown

As the King Air headed north, we left behind the grey drizzle of Glasgow and climbed into a clear blue sky. Soon we were flying over some of the most stunning coastal scenery in the British Isles.

As the Shetlands come into view we began our descent. Adam and his mum peered out of the windows, spotting local landmarks, as we skimmed above the rocky shoreline.

The runway looked alarmingly short, but the air ambulance pilots have plenty of experience landing at these remote airstrips, and we came to a swift halt.

Within minutes, Adam's stretcher was being carried off the plane and he was on his way home.

Roddy clearly loves his job, but acknowledges that it comes with a price in terms of the unpredictable hours.

"You can be away for 18 hours sometimes, and get stuck overnight if the weather closes in, but you accept that.

"Some people look on it as a glamorous job, but to those who do it, it is anything but glamorous."

Stormy

Within minutes, he has another patient. An elderly woman with a hip injury has to be flown to hospital in Aberdeen. The journey by sea would take 15 hours. By plane, it takes just 50 minutes.

Approaching Aberdeen, we flew into a storm, and the pilots had to fight against a crosswind as we made a bumpy descent.

Safely down on the ground again, with the patent on her way to hospital, Roddy reflects on the current state of the NHS.

"You see the good side where it is working very efficiently, but then you see the other side where you are pulling your hair out because you would like to do something but you can't, because of financial constraints," he says.

"The whole service is grossly under-funded. At our level, on the road, we just have to get on with it. But it can be very frustrating, and morale is not very high.

"A lot of people are very appreciative of what we do. Some are not, but you can't please all the people all of the time."