A HAMPSHIRE charity has introduced two new emergency response vehicles to meet a rising demand.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA) has introduced two new Skoda Superbs to their fleet of Critical Care Team vehicles.

The decision to introduce an additional two vehicles was made in response to increasing patient demand across Hampshire.

HIOWAA director of operations, Nick Thuilliez said “The vehicles increase our chances of bringing our advanced Critical Care Teams to those who need us, even on the rare occasion when the Air Ambulance is offline.

“We owe a special thank you to NATS Swanwick, who helped to raise funds towards the cost of one of the new vehicles and the essential equipment carried on board.”

The charity claim they have seen their missions double since introducing their first vehicle, a Volvo XC90, in 2017.

The Volvo has now become a backup for when the aircraft is offline and unable to respond, such as in adverse weather conditions.

The vehicles are in use seven days a week and can respond to the more difficult to reach urban areas where the air ambulance may struggle to land.

The cars are crewed by a team of HIOWAA doctors and paramedics, who are able to deliver advanced pre-hospital medical care at the scene of an incident.

The vehicles carry the same equipment as the air ambulance, such as blood and plasma transfusion kits, defibrillators plus monitors that can record blood pressure, oxygen saturation and carbon dioxide levels.

HIOWAA is the charity that delivers an advanced Critical Care Team to sick and injured people in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight when they need it most.

The team is called out many times a day to attend road traffic collisions, sporting accidents, collapses and many other incidents.

HIOWAA is a charity and receives no government funding, and relies upon donations from individuals and organisations.