WHILE many people will be enjoying Christmas Day with family and friends, opening presents and tucking into turkey lunches, the pilots and paramedics of Wiltshire Air Ambulance will be on duty to respond to serious medical emergencies.

The life-saving service, which relies on donations from supporters to stay flying, operates up to 19 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Pilot Nicky Smith will be on duty on Christmas Day. She said: “My family know that I do a really worthwhile job and we just have our own celebration at some other time and don’t worry that it’s not on the actual day.

“Working on Christmas Day starts with a really easy journey into work as the roads are unbelievably quiet.

"The Wiltshire Air Ambulance crew are always in a good mood and we do little festive things to acknowledge the day, like wearing Christmas hats and bringing food in to cook together.”

She added: “Wherever we land, the public come out in their Christmas jumpers and with their new presents – mostly children with bikes – and they love to come and say hello and share a bit of Christmas cheer.”

Rich Miller, the clinical services and ground operations manager, explained: “Working over the Christmas period is normal for our crews.

"Unfortunately serious injuries and severe illnesses, such as cardiac arrests, strokes and road traffic collisions, can occur at Christmas time and our pilots and paramedics are ready to respond to incidents requiring their specialist skills.

“It’s thanks to people who donate and fundraise for us that we are able to provide our essential Helicopter Emergency Medical Service every day, including over Christmas and New Year.”

The charity is not funded directly by the Government and receives no National Lottery grants but it costs £3.25m a year to keep going. So it has to rely on donations, legacies and the efforts of fundraisers to stay operational.

Formed nearly three decades ago, the air ambulance shared a helicopter with Wiltshire Police until January 2015 when the agreement with the police ended and it became a stand-alone service.

Earlier this year it moved from its old home at Wiltshire Police headquarters to a new purpose-built base at Semington, which was officially opened last week by the Duchess of Cornwall.

The paramedics are seconded from South West Ambulance Service and the air ambulance pays nearly 50 per cent of the cost.

On average the crews respond to three incidents a day and in 2017 one in 10 of them involved children. One in five were for road crashes.

Anyone wanting to support the charity can visit the website at wiltshireairambulance.co.uk