Rescue chopper ready and waiting

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 303, 8 September 1989, Page 6

Rescue chopper ready and waiting

Waimarino's rescue helicopter is ready for take off 24 hours a day and more and more people are using it as they become aware of its life saving potential.

The Rescue Helicopter Trust, set up a few years ago when Lisa Patterson was Wanganui Aero Works' pilot, is still

going strong but in recent times they have found a lot of people were unaware of their existence.

"People thought when Lisa left the rescue helicopter left as well," says present pilot Jim Reed. The Bell Jet Ranger that was originally equipped returned to the Waimarino some months ago, fully re-

conditioned. The chopper was extensively damaged by vandals on the East Coast while helping flood victims there. The stand-in machine was rescue capable. The trust has also had to turn around publicity for the Taupo based Phillips Rescue helicopter which gave the impression there was no other service available in the area. Some newspaper stories suggested the Taupo chopper was the only one servicing the central North Island. Before the winter season the trust organised a tour for the chopper to show emergency -workers in the area how it was equipped and what it was capable of. They took the chopper

to Turoa Skifields, Whakapapa Ski Fields, Waiouru camp and to Taumarunui Hospital. Rescue helicopter crew member Phillip1 Beer has worked on equipping the chopper, with advice and ideas from Russell Worth, the neurosurgeon who helped set up the "Life Flight" rescue service in Wellington. Phillip said the Wellington trust has been a trail blazer in the field and that Mr Worth feels the Jet Ranger is one of the best choppers for rescue work. Equipment the Waimarino Helicopter picks up from Waimarino Hospital for rescue work includes: a heart monitor; defibril-

lator; Pneupac resuscitator - ventilator; oxygen equipment; portable suction unit; a bedding bag; a full first aid kit plus a first aid back pack; and intravenous therapy kit; splints; electronic blood pressure machine; two stretchers; and a radio for contact with hospitals in Wellington, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Taumarunui and Waikato. The back pack kit allows a crew member to carry equipment to a patient away from a suitable landing site. At no time are any drugs kept in the helicopter or its hangar and most equipment is collected from the Waimarino Hospital, said Mr Beer.

Asked about unusual rescues, Phillip Beer says they're all unusual but one he mentions is when he was flown to a patient stuck on a steep hillside with a compound leg fracture. He was flown in a sling under the chopper in a net and from there the patient was given first aid and flown to a suitable landing site. This week the chopper was used to fly a patient with a serious neck injury off Mt Ruapehu, because of the nature of the injury and the time it would have taken to evacuate the patient any other way. The chopper is capable of taking two patients, a capacity that has been used. Some time ago three people involved in a car aceident on the Parapara Highway suffered fractured femurs and the chopper first flew two of the patients to Wanganui then returned for the third. The trust is looking to purchase more equipment for the chopper. The trust is presently chaired by Terry Tapp and Ian Strachan is the secretary.