WE had a busy summer, responding to 584 call-outs between June and September across our patch.

The summer is one of our busiest periods of the year, particularly in Cumbria, because the drier weather means more people are likely to take part in outdoor activities, such as walking in the countryside or playing sports.

There’s also a higher amount of people travelling by car or on a motorcycle for their holidays, trips out or visits to family and friends.

While we want everyone to make the most of the nice weather, unfortunately this usually means we are going to get called out to someone who needs our help.

One of the most high profile rescues was that of 15-year-old Olly Rastrick. He suffered life-threatening injuries in a glider crash almost at the top of Cross Fell, the highest point in the Pennines.

It was one of those cases where both the speed and versatility of the aircraft and the skills of our doctor and paramedic critical care team combined to great effect. We were able to reach him quickly and then provided him with a blood transfusion and other advanced procedures before airlifting him to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.

Over the next week, Olly’s condition stabilised and he regained consciousness, which was brilliant.

The problem was, Olly lives near Southampton, and with his condition still precarious, a road transfer was ruled out.

Instead our team agreed to fly him and his mum Miranda from our base at Teesside International Airport back to the South Coast so he could be nearer to his family and friends as he began the next step in his recovery.

The family were hugely appreciative of what we did for Olly which was heart-warming to say the least.

They’re hoping to return to the base in the future which we look forward to, but for now we just wish Olly well in his recovery.

There are several other notable incidents which we have been to this year and some of them were filmed for the third series of Emergency Helicopter Medics.

Although it takes a bit of getting used to having a camera following us around, we find the series beneficial because it provides the public with a rare glimpse of what we do on a day to day basis.

It has started again on More4 on Sundays from 9pm-10pm.