The Cambridgeshire, UK-based aeromedical charity Magpas Air Ambulance saw its busiest year on record in 2025, as the publicly funded emergency service was activated 1,948 times.

Magpas' team of advanced doctors and paramedics are specially trained in pre-hospital emergency medicine and are therefore only called to the most seriously ill and injured patients across the East of England. This included the major incident at Huntingdon train station in November last year, where the operator's double advanced paramedic team was the first medical resource to arrive, providing triage and immediate care to the injured whilst also playing a key role in scene coordination.

The service responded to incidents in 12 counties in and around the East of England last year, treating anyone in the community in life-threatening emergencies, from newborn babies to 99-year-olds.

With the charity situated in Cambridgeshire, it's no surprise that the county was once again Magpas' most attended, followed by Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire. The charity was most often called to treat patients suffering medical emergencies, such as cardiac arrests, and patients injured in road traffic collisions, accidental injuries and assaults.

The charity's medical team bring specialist knowledge, skills and equipment to the scene of every incident they attend, allowing them to perform treatments and procedures such as general anaesthetics, sedations and some critical surgical procedures, wherever their patients are. Last year, the team of advanced clinicians performed 655 specialist pre-hospital procedures on roadsides, in people's homes, in rural countryside locations and busy towns and estates.

Magpas Air Ambulance has always been committed to enhancing knowledge in the community too; training thousands of people in the lifesaving skills of CPR and how to use a defibrillator and promoting equality in bystander CPR, too. The charity is pleased to report that of all the cardiac arrests Magpas Air Ambulance was called to, 73% had received bystander CPR prior to the team's arrival, a figure that continues to increase year on year.

Working around the clock, 37 per cent of Magpas missions took place overnight. And the demand for lifesaving care continued right through to the end of 2025, as Magpas Air Ambulance provided 24/7 cover across the Christmas period, responding to 56 emergencies between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day alone.

Chief executive Daryl Brown reflects: “2025 was our busiest year to date, continuing a clear and consistent trend of increasing activations year on year. This growth shows just how much the demand for our air ambulance service is rising, and we are proud to be able to respond when critically ill and injured patients need us most. We are always looking at ways to strengthen and grow our lifesaving clinical services so that we can be there for every patient who needs our care. None of this would be possible without the incredible generosity of the public and the tireless fundraising efforts of the communities we serve. Their support enables us to provide a vital, lifesaving service for our region, helping to save so many lives.”