GHW defends chopper choice

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 671, 28 January 1997, Page 1

GHW defends chopper choice

Using a dedicated air rescue helicopter for emer gencies provides patients with the best avail able emergency air care, said Good Health Wanganui Limited spokesman Kevin Simpson last week. He said this was a factor behind GHW' s decision to use the services of the Palmerston North-based Tranz Rail Rescue Helicopter. He said the Tranz Rail service is the only dedicated 24hour helicopter available to GHW within the region which meets Aviation Industry Association (AIA) standards. The service is backed up where needed by Wanganuibased Wanganui Aero Work.

The decision formalises what has been happening, at least in the Waimarino, for at least 12 months. There has been much debate in both the Waimarino and Wanganui in the past over St John Ambulance' s decision to use the Palmerston North based machine rather than the local Wanganui Aero Works machines. In the Waimarino, the community raised many thousands of dollars to pay for air rescue equipment that is now largely redundant. For inter-hospital transfers GHW generally uses its own accredited fixed wing services, provided by Air Wanganui and supported by a GHW aero-medical team. Turn to Page 3

GHW defends chopper choice

FROM PAGE 1 Iri 1996 the Tranz Rail Rescue Helicopter transported 98 patients to Wanganui Hospital for treatment and made 28 hospital transfers from Wanganui to other hospitals. . Mr Simpson said most of the patients transported to Wanganui were from the Ohakune/Waiouru area which is about as far from Palmerston North as it is from Wanganui, effectively allowing concerns aired earlier about distances affecting the ability of a Palmerston North based service to provide rapid service to the district. "We are aiming to optimise the outcomes for patients. We believe that using this service will help us to do so." "The general feeling is that Tranz Rail (Rescue helicopter) offers a brilliant service and our medical professionals are delighted with the support and the service which Tranz Rail (Rescue helicopter) provides," Mr Simpson said. "In previous eras, when dedicated air rescues services were not available at all, or were available less readily, we relied very much on the ability within the local community to provide a service. However, knowing how important it is to provide immediate medical support to trauma patients, we believe that it is our responsibility to use the services of a dedicated operator like Tranz Rail Rescue Helicopter."

"We have been working with the Tranz Rail Rescue Helicopter for some time now and look forward to continuing to do so," Mr Simpson said. Waimarino trust to continue Waimarino Rescue Helicopter Trust chairman Ian Strachan told the Bulletin that the trust would continue to exist, despite the decision not to use it. He said the trust did not agree with GHW' s decision, believing that using a locallybased machine had big advantages: The response times were quicker, the pilot had more local knowledge and a smaller machine was cheaper to operate. Also, in poor weather it was sometimes not possible to fly into the area whereas in such conditions a helicopter could fly a patient out. Mr Stratchan said when the Wanganui Aero Works service was established in 1 985, hospital doctors told them the equipment they had was all that they needed. He said the helicopter had performed mroe than 1 00 calls and that there had never been any problems with the size of the machine (a smaller Jet Ranger). The trust does accept that times have changed and that the more sophisticated air ambulance had an important role to play in extreme cases. "But the trust feels that a system should be established so that the most appropriate machine is used, taking suitability, availability, time and cost factors into account."