A new state-of-the-art helicopter will allow an emergency service charity to fly missions at night and save more lives across south Bucks.

Thames Valley Air Ambulance is marking 15 years of vital rescues with a new craft equipped with night vision technology and flood lighting to extend its capabilities.

Established in 2000, the charity – which relies solely on donations - has developed over the from a ‘swoop and scoop’ service to an advanced air ambulance service, notching up around 16,000 missions to date.

To coincide with its 15-year anniversary, the charity is relaunching with a new name, having previously been known as the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance.

And anniversary celebrations got off to a flying start at Abingdon Air Show over the bank holiday weekend, before crews take delivery of the new Airbus H135 helicopter from Germany later this year.

Mark McGeown, the charity’s CEO said: “Over the last 15 years, TVAA has significantly advanced pre-hospital trauma care in the counties of Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire to reach, treat and save more people than ever before.

“2015 is set to be an exciting year for us as we look towards night flying.

“As well as introducing a new image for the charity, we are looking forward to the delivery of our new helicopter that will enable us to deliver our life-saving service by night as well as by day.”

Mr McGeown said when crews performed their first rescue in 2000, they carried the same medical kit as a land ambulance.

However, today the air ambulance brings the expertise of an A&E department to the roadside to treat patients at the scene.

The average cost of a mission is now around £2,500, compared with just £500 in 2000.

Doctor-led teams can perform a range of life-saving interventions at the roadside, providing early diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions that otherwise could only be identified in hospital.

Innovations on board have advanced from basic medical kits to a full range of life-saving equipment.

And TVAA was the first air ambulance to carry an I-Stat machine used for immediate blood analysis helping to shave off valuable seconds in what teams call the ‘golden hour’.