RACQ LifeFlight Rescue welcomes new helicopter
LifeFlight deputy chairman Jim Elder said the organisation was proud to provide an improved level of care to the North West community.
RACQ LifeFlight Rescue said that residents and visitors to North West Queensland, Australia, will have a better lifesaving aeromedical service following the arrival of the service’s new helicopter on 19 July.
The upgraded Mount Isa-based helicopter touched down in the North West earlier than expected, said Lifeflight, following a 1,600-km (100-mile) journey from its previous base at Bundaberg. The aircraft left Bundaberg on the morning of 18 July before flying seven hours to Longreach, where the crew rested overnight. They then flew the final three-hour leg to Mount Isa on the morning of 19 July, where they were greeted by local school children from St Kieran’s Catholic Primary School and Spinifex Junior Campus when the chopper landed at the Kruttschnitt Oval sports ground.
The new helicopter, a twin-engine BK117, offers a better medical platform, improving speed and range, and allows for two patients to be transported in most situations (compared to one on Lifeflight’s previous craft), said the service. Being night vision goggle (NVG) capable, it will enhance the crew’s night flying capability and allow them to land in almost any location within a 300-km (185-mile) radius. Another improvement is the new helicopter’s onboard winch, which will enable the crew to hoist patients where the helicopter is unable to land due to terrain or environmental conditions.
LifeFlight deputy chairman Jim Elder said the organisation was proud to provide an improved level of care to the North West community: “Following the Palaszczuk Government’s announcement last month of funding for our Mount Isa base of $2.4 million for 2017-18, which was very welcome by LifeFlight, we said we would upgrade the LifeFlight service to the North West and we have delivered the helicopter earlier than we had expected. We would expect the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter to more than double its flying hours and the tasking for lifesaving missions in 2017-18 to 100-150 hours.”
Elder said the community support in the region was an important factor in LifeFlight’s decision to upgrade the Mount Isa helicopter, with local supporters such as mining company Glencore which this year renewed a two-year, $300,000 sponsorship deal.
The crew will now train to operate the upgraded aircraft. During this cross-over period, LifeFlight said it will station extra staff at Mount Isa, keeping the current helicopter in the air and saving lives. The service said it anticipates that the Mount Isa crew will be fully operational in the upgraded aircraft by mid-August.
LifeFlight chief operating officer Brian Guthrie said the aircraft’s arrival was part of LifeFlight’s most significant fleet movement in recent years: “We replaced the BK117 in Bundaberg, which enabled us to move that helicopter up to Mount Isa and provide a better aircraft and a better lifesaving service to the region. For the next month, there will be a lot of training for the flight and medical crew to ensure they become totally familiar with the new aircraft, new equipment and the increased day and night capability.”