RACQ CQ Rescue busy in the run up to Christmas
The sky is an increasingly busy place with Christmas approaching, and the crews of RACQ CQ Rescue are certainly feeling the heat having completed an incredible 27 lifesaving missions already this month
Thirteen tasks have been recorded in the last seven days, with the RACQ CQ Rescue attending four primary missions including winching a sick fisherman from a reef, an ill sailor off a bulk carrier and transporting two patients seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents in just two days.
The Mackay-based rescue helicopter service has now clocked up an incredible 660 missions this year and is expected to reach a record 700 tasks by the end of 2019. In 2019, operational costs reached $9.45 million.
RACQ CQ Rescue CEO Ian Rowan said the service was incredibly proud to have been able to fly to the assistance of hundreds of individuals in their moment of dire need and to have made a difference to so many lives across the region.
With the rescue chopper’s mission numbers increasing annually, this was an accurate representation of the ever-growing necessity for such a lifesaving service in this region.
“We have already saved a record number of lives in the last year, whether it be via hospital transfers, attending motor vehicle or workplace accidents or search and rescue missions, and we’re incredibly proud to have grown both in size and status to become one of the most trusted and highly respected not-for-profit organisations in the state,” Rowan said.
“From our base here in Mackay we cover an area four times the size of Tasmania with one primary and one back up helicopter,” said Rowan. “We are a small but very dedicated team and delivering some very big results, but importantly, we are also a not-for-profit service which is absolutely vital to the sick and injured within our community. Every day, with every life we save, we are continually proving our worth to this community. And that’s certainly the best gift this Christmas,” Rowan concluded.