MPs welcome funding for rescue helicopter service
MEDIA RELEASE
5 July 2010
“Almost $80,000 is being given to air ambulances in Otago thanks to extra funding from the National-led Government,” say Otago MPs Michael Woodhouse and Jacqui Dean.
“The Otago Rescue Helicopter Trust provides a vital service.
“We are privileged to be able to present a cheque today to further support their work in the southern South Island.”
Dunedin-based MP Mr Woodhouse and Waitaki electorate MP Mrs Dean presented the $78,159 in funding at Taieri Airfield where the helicopter is based.
“Air ambulance helicopters are there 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Government is working hard to ensure these critical, life-saving services continue to serve the community and save lives,” the MPs say.
The funding boost is part of a $48 million commitment to implementing a New Zealand Ambulance Services Strategy over the next four years.
Otago Rescue Helicopter Trust is one of 16 centres across New Zealand that provides life-saving service transport for critically ill or injured people to medical facilities.
The $1 million plan, announced in June last year, will see 100 extra paramedics and additional training for rural ambulance staff across the country.
Though air ambulances transport about three in every 100 ambulance patients, their costs represent two in every ten dollars of the $150 million spent by Health and ACC on ambulance services.
“We are committed to supporting and furthering our health service sector in the years ahead,” Mr Woodhouse and Mrs Dean say.
The helicopter serves the emergency needs of the population of the lower South Island, spread over an area of 66,500 square kilometres.
The crew is made up of dedicated and highly trained staff. The primary crew is made up of an experienced pilot and an advanced paramedic rescue crewman. Dunedin Hospital's Intensive Care Unit doctors and St John Ambulance advanced paramedics support the primary crew.
For specialised missions there is a range of support teams including water rescue and cliff rescue squads, who are on standby.
The helicopter also transfers critically ill and intensive-care patients. It is also equipped with a specialised neonatal intensive-care incubator for transferring premature babies and their mothers from throughout the region to the neonatal unit at Dunedin Hospital.
ENDS
MEDIA RELEASE
5 July 2010
“Almost $80,000 is being given to air ambulances in Otago thanks to extra funding from the National-led Government,” say Otago MPs Michael Woodhouse and Jacqui Dean.
“The Otago Rescue Helicopter Trust provides a vital service.
“We are privileged to be able to present a cheque today to further support their work in the southern South Island.”
Dunedin-based MP Mr Woodhouse and Waitaki electorate MP Mrs Dean presented the $78,159 in funding at Taieri Airfield where the helicopter is based.
“Air ambulance helicopters are there 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Government is working hard to ensure these critical, life-saving services continue to serve the community and save lives,” the MPs say.
The funding boost is part of a $48 million commitment to implementing a New Zealand Ambulance Services Strategy over the next four years.
Otago Rescue Helicopter Trust is one of 16 centres across New Zealand that provides life-saving service transport for critically ill or injured people to medical facilities.
The $1 million plan, announced in June last year, will see 100 extra paramedics and additional training for rural ambulance staff across the country.
Though air ambulances transport about three in every 100 ambulance patients, their costs represent two in every ten dollars of the $150 million spent by Health and ACC on ambulance services.
“We are committed to supporting and furthering our health service sector in the years ahead,” Mr Woodhouse and Mrs Dean say.
The helicopter serves the emergency needs of the population of the lower South Island, spread over an area of 66,500 square kilometres.
The crew is made up of dedicated and highly trained staff. The primary crew is made up of an experienced pilot and an advanced paramedic rescue crewman. Dunedin Hospital's Intensive Care Unit doctors and St John Ambulance advanced paramedics support the primary crew.
For specialised missions there is a range of support teams including water rescue and cliff rescue squads, who are on standby.
The helicopter also transfers critically ill and intensive-care patients. It is also equipped with a specialised neonatal intensive-care incubator for transferring premature babies and their mothers from throughout the region to the neonatal unit at Dunedin Hospital.
ENDS
