AIR ambulances are invaluable in the emergency services, often making the difference between life and death, it has been reported.

Mission Report, published by the National Association of Air Ambulance Services records the types of incidents air ambulances attend and how they contribute to emergency services.

Road traffic accidents account for half of all air ambulance missions, with 17 per cent of serious accidents attended by the air ambulance, although this figure is slightly less in the North-East, where 12 per cent of incidents attended since March were road accidents.

The national network responded to 6,774 call-outs between March and August. Of those, 3,201 were road accidents, which is 18 per cent of all serious road accidents in the country.

The second most common call-outs were to medical emergencies, such as heart attacks, while work-related accidents accounted for three per cent, the majority of which were farm-related.

This compares with eight per cent of call-outs to sporting and leisure accidents, a large proportion of which have involved horse riding.