YOUNGSTERS in Barnard Castle got up close and personal with a helicopter which is a regular sight in the skies above the dale when air medics dropped in at a town play park last week.
The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), Guardian of the North II, responded to a call out to Barnard Castle on Wednesday, and landed next to the swings at Green Lane children’s play area.
Landing the Eurocopter Dauphin helicopter, which has the ability to get from its base in Teesside to Berwick in less than half an hour, in the fenced play area off Green Lane was no mean feat, but something experienced pilot Mark Griffiths took in his stride.
Mr Griffiths, who has been flying for the past 33 years, 15 of them with the GNAAS, said: “We have to look at access when we are landing and I was aware there were a lot of cables for the houses. Fortunately they were not above the play park. When we’re landing, we try and find the nearest place that has access. School fields are good, but in the holidays the gates are usually locked.
“Luckily it was a bit early and there were not a lot of kids in the play park when we came into land.”
However, more children and their parents soon appeared after watching the impressive emergency copter touch down. Mum-of-one Katie Richards, from neighbouring Sherwood Close, said: “We were in the conservatory and we could hear it. Then we saw it descend. As soon as we saw it, we came around to have a look.”
Guy Jones, from Greta Road, whose niece Shona works for the charity, also came down for a closer look at the aircraft wearing his special GNAAS T-shirt.
Mr Griffiths spent about an hour chatting to locals, answering questions about the helicopter, the work the GNAAS does and the area covered by the service before he was called back to base.
He added: “A lot of people don’t realise how the service has moved on.
“We are not just about scooping up patients and delivering them to hospital. We now bring the A and E to the patient. It is a lot better now for the patient and outcomes.
“It is incredible the things they [doctors and paramedics] can do – open heart surgery at the side of the road and that kind of thing.”
