CORNWALL Air Ambulance has secured further lifesaving advancements thanks to a collaboration with Formula 1.

Formula 1 representatives spent the day at the charity’s headquarters at Trevithick Downs to apply the precision, discipline, and marginal-gains mindset of its motorsport racing teams to the charity’s pre-take-off workflow.

The hopeful outcome was to reduce the time to reach the air, which sat at an already-impressive average of five minutes, while maintaining absolute safety and clinical excellence.

The charity reports that changes made as a direct result of discussions and suggestions from the day have meant that already their average take-off time has been reduced by 30 per cent.

The day saw representatives from the Aston Martin, Mercedes, McLaren and Williams Formula 1 teams meet with members of the charity’s lifesaving crew and the technical lead from Leonardo. During the day, it was identified that a quick start procedure could be used for the helicopter’s take-off, if pre-flight checks had been completed within a 24-hour window. The introduction of the quick start procedure allows for a reduced start-up time, which has been put into practice.

A commitment was also made to apply the Formula 1 garage principles of everything being in the same place, every time, leading to zero searching and zero hesitation. The objective was not simply to move faster but to reduce variation. The operational team at Cornwall Air Ambulance have now moved all the equipment required for each mission to the last point of access to the helipad, which has resulted in a more streamline efficient flow to the aircraft.

Other topics covered over the day included teamwork, culture, communication and performing under pressure, with conversations highlighting the similarities between the two worlds and how high-performance thinking is critical to all. The conclusion of the day was that improvement is continuous, not event-driven. Cornwall Air Ambulance has further follow-up adjustments to be trialled and tasks to be completed that could lead to even further improvements.

The idea for the collaboration was conceived by Cornwall Air Ambulance’s chairman David Richards, who is also chairman of Motorsport UK and former Formula 1 team principal.

Cornwall Air Ambulance stepped into the national spotlight after a six-minute segment of the visit by Formula 1 representatives to the charity’s headquarters featured as part of Sky Sports F1's coverage of the British Grand Prix, which gave millions of fans a behind-the-scenes look at a collaboration.

Tim Bunting, Cornwall Air Ambulance’s CEO, said: “We are so grateful to the representatives from the Formula 1 teams who gave their time and expertise to ensure our day together led to real results.

“The amazing coverage from Sky Sports at the weekend introduced millions of people to the service we provide to the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. We have no doubt that the changes implemented, and still to be implemented, from the day will lead to critical care reaching our patients even quicker and we hope this is just the beginning of a fantastic friendship between our organisation and Formula 1.”