Crew profile: Kate Sharpe

Kate Sharpe, 30, is a registrar anaesthetist at Frenchay Hospital, working day and night shifts and studying for exams.

But when she could be making the most of a day off, she chooses to work with the air ambulance team, supporting the paramedics and helping save lives.

She has been training since July but cannot fly without another doctor until she completes a checklist of procedures on emergency calls.

"Some of the things I am expected to do I do on a daily basis at Frenchay's resuscitation or intensive treatment unit, but I have to be able to prove that I can do them in a roadside environment," she said.

Kate is thrilled to have been given the opportunity to fly with GWAA.

"This is a branch of medicine I always thought I would like to get into, because it is so interesting and so diverse," she said.

"I am doing it for the love of it.

"Having a job that gives me the training opportunities and exposure to skills that I can then transfer to my day job – It is invaluable, really."

Kate has helped people that she has then been able to follow up at Frenchay.

"I have looked after an awful lot of the people that we have brought into the hospital in the last two months and for me, that continuity of care is fantastic."