Soar in the skies with Devon Air Ambulance’s VR experience

Throughout the experience viewers can learn about the equipment that the DAA medical crew carries and the technology that keeps them flying

Get the pick of the week's best stories and fascinating features direct to your inbox every Saturday and Sunday morning in our exclusive Weekender newsletter

We have more newsletters

A new experience is enabling people to climb aboard the Devon Air Ambulance thanks to virtual reality. This new experience, recently unveiled at the Devon County show, enables the user to climb on board their Airbus H145 helicopter G-DAAS sitting up front in the cockpit and in the rear cabin of the helicopter to take in everything on board.

Throughout the experience viewers can learn about the equipment that the DAA medical crew carries and the technology that keeps them flying.

Charlotte Leventis, head of communications at DAA, said: "The VR experience gives us an amazing opportunity to engage with supporters of all ages in a new and exciting way. In particular, we are pleased to offer this tour to those with restricted access who can now enjoy the view from the pilot's seat and inside the helicopter just by sitting comfortably and wearing one of our VR headsets. We’re incredibly grateful to Noel and the team at View It 360 for their generous donation of two VR headsets so that we can continue to share this experience across Devon".

Noel Sexton, director of view It 360 Ltd, said: "We were delighted to work with DAA on this project, giving the public an opportunity to truly engage with the charity and its incredible, life-saving technology.

"Grounding the helicopters for fundraising events isn't an option, so our VR headsets will allow the DAA team to take the helicopters along with them! The facility to view spaces ‘virtually’ empowers everyone to feel included, regardless of physical ability or their location."

The partnership between these two local organisations offers virtually limitless potential as they continue to work together on more exciting projects, now and into the future. But the bond between both organisations runs much deeper than just your usual working relationship after Noel and his family were directly impacted by DAA's time-critical work.

Noel explains: "In 2005 my wife Nikki and I had a home birth of our son; Callum. After about an hour from birth, whilst feeding, he turned blue and stopped breathing. The DAA helicopter crew arrived soon after and airlifted Callum and my wife, Nikki to Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton where, thankfully, Callum was given the "all clear" and came home later that day.

"It is from this point that we have had a connection with DAA and support the charity whenever we can. I am also incredibly proud of my parents who both volunteer at DAA events and have looked after several DAA collection boxes around their local community for many years now."

Corporate engagement manager at DAA, Tracy Owen works to promote opportunities for organisations from across Devon to collaborate with the charity on exciting initiatives such as these.

She said: "I am always looking for new ways to engage with local businesses and develop lasting relationships, so when the opportunity to work with Noel on this virtual reality project came along, we were thrilled."

The 360-degree virtual tour of the helicopter is also available on the charity's website bit.ly/DAA-360-tour.