Team members: Crew & Operations

Andrew, known as ‘Alf’, is originally from the Lake District and is an Ex-RAF navigator, survival instructor and air operations officer. During his time in the Air Force, he was an air-to-air refuelling instructor, head of operations for the busiest Heliport (at the time) in Europe and was a navigator on overseas aeromedical flights.

For the last 11 years, Alf was head of operations and risk for an international disaster relief charity, delivering aid to Haiti, The Philippines and North Korea (DPRK), to name a few. He has lived in Cornwall for more than 20 years, and, in his spare time, is currently renovating a 50-year-old catamaran and enjoys trying to surf.

Since joining the ambulance service, Steve’s ambition has always been to become a member of the Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust and he is proud to serve the local community as an aircrew paramedic. He began his medical career in 2000 with the ambulance service and qualified as a paramedic in 2005. He became a full time member of the aircrew in June 2009 following a robust selection process. Today Steve leads the paramedic aircrew.

In his spare time Steve’s hobbies are surfing, cycling and travelling the world. He has cycled from London to Land’s End and also from London to Paris raising funds for charity.

Mick joined the ambulance service in Cornwall (SWAST) in June 2002 after serving 11 years with the London Ambulance Service.

He has been working on the Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust since May 2006 as a full time member of the team.

Jeremy has worked for South Western Ambulance since 1984 back in the days when it was Cornwall Ambulance Service. Since that time he has been very fortunate to have a varied and interesting medical and rescue career. He has been a lifeboat crewman, part of HM Coastguards cliff rescue team and worked for a ski resort as the rescue director which encompasses a role as a winch man on a helicopter rescue team in British Columbia. However, he maintains the highlight of his service has been as a Critical Care Paramedic with the Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust.

Recently Jeremy has completed SWAST’s Specialist Paramedic in Critical Care passport accompanied by a critical care master’s degree. He has found this to be a real challenge, but very rewarding.

Kris joined the team in 2017 having previously worked in clinical and education roles within South Western Ambulance service for 11 years. He has a passion for clinical development and his role is shared between Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust and the ambulance service where he works to help develop new clinical guidelines and procedures.

Tom joined the team in July 2017 as a Critical Care Paramedic. Originally from Tipperary, Ireland, Tom moved to England 10 years ago to train as a paramedic in London. He then went on to work in London for two years, before joining the East of England Ambulance Service in the Hazardous Area Response Team.

He joined Essex and Herts Air Ambulance in 2016, and saw an opening at Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust. He was attracted to the location and job role, as well as the opportunity to develop his critical care skills. He is looking forward to developing the training and pushing the boundaries of the care we can provide in the hope that patients will be able to receive more specialist care on board.

Pete joined Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust in July 2018 as a trainee Critical Care Paramedic. He comes from Northampton, and moved to Cornwall with his parents 26 years ago. He has previously worked as a Retained Firefighter for 15 years, and a Paramedic for the Ambulance Service based in Newquay. He then became a Practice Placement Educator for the Trust. With an interest in anatomy and physiology, Pete enjoyed developing his skills in trauma patients as he qualified as a Critical Care Paramedic.

In his spare time he has set himself the challenge of walking all the coastal paths in Cornwall with his girlfriend and their dog. He also enjoys running and cycling.

Lisa was born in Cornwall and has worked for South Western Ambulance Service for 12 years, with the last 3 years as an Operations Officer in East Cornwall. Now as a qualified Critical Care Paramedic, she enjoys developing her skills and enhancing her ability to provide more specialist care within a challenging environment. Outside of work Lisa can often be found at the beach as well as enjoying running.

Martin joined Cornwall Air Ambulance as a Trainee Critical Care Paramedic in August 2019. Originally from Newquay, he studied in Bournemouth and qualified as a paramedic in 2013. He worked in Plymouth, before returning to Newquay to work on road ambulances, alongside a role at the Minor Injuries Unit in Newquay Hospital. Martin is completing his Masters Degree in Critical Care and is now a qualified Critical Care Paramedic.

Away from work, he will be found running, cycling or spending time with his family.

Louise joined Cornwall Air Ambulance as a Trainee Critical Care Paramedic in January 2020. She studied in Hertfordshire and qualified as a paramedic in 2015. She worked in London on ambulances, fast response cars and in the main control room. Louise is completing her Masters Degree in Trauma Sciences and in Critical Care, and qualified as a Critical Care Paramedic at the end of 2022.

Away from work, she can be found hiking and climbing. She is looking forward to getting a dog to explore Cornwall with her.

Paul has worked for South Western Ambulance Service for almost 20 years, with the last 12 years as an Operations Officer both in Plymouth and East Cornwall. Now a qualified Critical Care Paramedic, he has enjoyed developing his skills and being able to provide specialist care for our patients. Outside of work Paul is a keen ultra marathon runner. He is currently a GB athlete on the 24hr team and has recently represented the country in the World Championships. With his wife being a triathlete and his daughter a keen swimmer, there is little time for rest at home.

Chris is a recent addition to the team at Cornwall Air Ambulance. Having spent the past 20 years as a paramedic and Education Lead with South Western Ambulance Service, Chris is now looking forward to developing his own clinical skill set and providing a higher level of care to patients. Chris will be commencing further Masters level study in the near future which is a requirement to qualifying as a Specialist Practitioner.

Outside of work Chris is a keen surfer and loves exploring the coast of Cornwall and Devon searching for new places to surf, something which his new role on the helicopter has helped with immensely!

Will has recently joined Cornwall Air Ambulance as a Trainee Critical Care Paramedic. Originally from Truro, Will moved to study Paramedic Science at Canterbury Christ Church University. Following this, Will worked for South East Coast Ambulance Service in Chichester for six years, initially working as a Paramedic and then an Operational Commander. With clinical education and evidenced based medicine being specific interests of his, Will has carried on studying and is currently halfway through his Masters in Prehospital Critical Care, which is proving to be an enjoyable challenge. Will feels privileged to now work for Cornwall Air Ambulance and is looking forward to expanding his knowledge as he works towards qualifying as a Specialist Paramedic in Critical Care.

In his down time, Will is a very keen surfer who also enjoys snowboarding, freediving, fishing and music. Having moved back to Cornwall, Will is looking forward to getting back to exploring the beautiful Cornish coast and playing some live music.

Dave is our Lead Airbase Doctor and has been flying as part of the team since 2012 and assembled our doctor team in 2016. He has been involved with the Ambulance Service as a BASICS emergency response Doctor since 2005. Dave is a consultant anaesthetist and intensive care physician at the Royal Cornwall Hospital and has sub-specialist interests in Transfer medicine and Intensive Care Ultrasound. He is fortunate to love the flying as much as the opportunity to work with the team but he’s, first and foremost, passionate about delivering high-quality trauma and medical care to the people of Cornwall.

When he’s not working, Dave can occasionally be found tinkering in the garage when time allows.

Dave is a Consultant in Anaesthesia & Critical Care Medicine and joined Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust in 2018. He works at Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro and has always been interested in Pre-Hospital Care. When he is not working, Dave is most likely to be found walking on a Cornish beach with his family and their labradoodle.

Doctor Ian Higginson, known as Higgi, is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at University Hospitals Plymouth where he is also a sub-specialist in Paediatric Emergency Medicine. He is currently Vice President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

He has been working with Cornwall Air Ambulance since 2018. Since 2006 he has also been a doctor with BASICS Devon, providing voluntary prehospital care in his local area.

When he is not working he enjoys drumming in various bands, and trying to stave off middle age by keeping fit!

Matt is a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine at Royal Cornwall Hospital. He joined the Cornwall Air Ambulance team in 2022, having worked with three different air ambulances during his specialty training.

Matt first experienced pre-hospital care in Paris, France, as a medical student and returned to work as an ‘Intern’ with SAMU 92 in 2015. He is the current Lead for Major Trauma at RCHT and works as a Trauma Transfer Consultant in addition to anaesthetics at Treliske hospital.

Outside work he is most likely to be found walking with family on the coastal path around Cornwall.

Dan is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at the Royal Cornwall Hospital and joined Cornwall Air Ambulance in 2022. Before joining CAAT, he gained his pre-hospital experience and training working with London’s Air Ambulance and is also a volunteer responder with BASICS Cornwall.

Dan was born in Cornwall and grew up in Camborne. When not at work, he enjoys being outside exploring Cornwall with his young family and spaniel!

Fionna is an Emergency Medicine Consultant working in Plymouth. She has worked as a HEMS Doctor ‘up country’ since 2010 and joined Cornwall Air Ambulance in 2021.

She is the Governance lead for the Peninsula Trauma Network and has a particular interest in Frailty Major Trauma. She is in the process of joining BASICS as a volunteer doctor.

When not at work, Fionna can be found having mini adventures kayaking, hiking and swimming with her family.

Adam learned to fly in Florida and spent two years working there, before returning to the UK. Much of his early experience was gained flying helicopters offshore for the oil and gas industry in Aberdeen and the Shetland Islands.

In recent years, Adam joined Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance as a HEMS pilot where he flew in both the MD902 and the AW169 helicopters. Moving back to his native Cornwall, Adam is now the chief pilot for Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust. He is looking forward to the challenges of the job, including the unpredictable Cornish weather.

Liv started flying with the Royal Navy in 2000, qualified as a Sea King pilot flying as a ‘Junglie’ in support of the Royal Marines and other land forces in operations around the world. She transferred into Search and Rescue, based in Cornwall and then Scotland. In 2012, Liv left the Royal Navy but carried on flying Search and Rescue for CHC on the UK’s south coast, before taking three years out to concentrate on bringing up her two young children.

Liv returned to flying as a Children’s Air Ambulance pilot on the AW169 and was delighted when the opportunity arose to work back in Cornwall, even more so to work in HEMS. She is enjoying serving the Cornish community again, and having sand in her toes and salt in her hair.

Originally from West Yorkshire, Richard Joined the Royal Navy in 1996. His early flying career was spent at RNAS Culdrose in Helston, but he was later based in Somerset, Shropshire and Denmark.

He left the Navy in 2015 to start a job flying the Dauphin helicopter at Newquay airport and was very happy to move back to Cornwall. Living in the area and seeing the great work that the Cornwall Air Ambulance does, Richard is thrilled to have been given the opportunity to join the team and is thoroughly enjoying flying the AW169.

Outside work, Richard enjoys running (slowly), surfing (badly) and anything that gets him in the great Cornish outdoors with his family.

Born and bred in South Africa, Andy learned to fly after joining the Royal Navy in 2000. Initially trained as a Sea King troop transport pilot, he later had the chance to fly Search and Rescue in Cornwall. He then progressed to become an instructor covering all areas of military flying from teaching hovering to formation flying on night vision goggles. He left the Navy in 2016 to provide a more stable life for his wife and three children.

Since 2016 Andy has been operating as a Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) pilot, mainly flying for the Wales Air Ambulance Charity but also operating other aircraft across the UK. Having moved back to Cornwall in January 2021, Andy jumped at the chance to join the amazing team at Cornwall Air Ambulance, starting there in September 2022.

Outside of work he enjoys life with the family often making the most of the beautiful scenery, while walking the coastal paths and beaches around Newquay.

Mike grew up in North Wales and came to Cornwall when he was 20, knowing right away that this was where he wanted to be. Mike had a few summers of ‘beach lifestyle’ spending seven years as a beach lifeguard with the RNLI, mainly at Polzeath but all over North Cornwall, during which time he spent the winters flight training in the UK and Florida until 2014 when he started working as flying instructor in Liverpool and Manchester. In 2018 he Joined Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance as a CoPilot and worked there for five years, commuting while living in Camelford and waiting for an opportunity to work for CAAT. Last year everything finally came together and he now has his dream job!

As a young lifeguard at Polzeath, occasionally the Air Ambulance would land on the beach and Mike would watch enviously as the crew went about their work. He was a very inexperienced student pilot the time and the idea of one day being part of that crew seemed like a distant fantasy, but 15 years later here he am! He says the last box to tick is a landing on the beach at Polzeath, then he has come full circle! Mike says that when people ask him what he does, he is very proud to tell them that he works for CAAT.

Outside of work Mike likes to make the most of the coast and countryside with his wife and son. He still surfs when he can, he’s a member of Camel Vale Motor Club and he is currently building a rally car with his brother and a Go Kart with his son, both are taking (a lot) longer he thought!

Born in Hertfordshire, Pete has lived near Falmouth for the last 25 years. He studied engineering at the University of Portsmouth and joined the Royal Navy in 1996, qualifying as an anti-submarine warfare Sea King Pilot in 2000. Naval career highlights included a three-year exchange appointment with the Canadian Air Force and flying as a Search and Rescue Pilot with 771 Naval Air Squadron at Culdrose. He left the Royal Navy in 2012 and spent two years in Trinidad and Tobago, flying SAR.

Since then, Pete has returned to Cornwall, continuing to fly in the UK and abroad, most recently in South America. He feels fortunate to have flown in lots of different areas of the world, but he is excited to be flying in Cornwall once more and is happy and proud to be part of a team that makes a difference in the Cornish community.

In his spare time, he likes walking the dog with his wife, sailing, canoeing and cooking.

Having lived in Cornwall since 2002, Gemma was long aware of Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust and its valuable work, and after completing the charity’s 10k Runway Runaround in March 2012 she was keen to do more to help.

Gemma spends her days making sure the Operational Crew have everything they need, both clinically and in terms of aviation, to continue their vital work.

Outside of work, Gemma likes to take time to enjoy the great outdoors and make the most of the Cornish countryside, taking advantage of its beautiful beaches and sea.