The Westpac Rescue Helicopter has been called to multiple rescues and hospital transfers throughout the Northern Rivers in the last week.
A winch rescue was used after a man in his twenties fell onto rocks at Killan Falls on Saturday, 9 September.
‘About 1pm on Saturday the Westpac Rescue Helicopter was tasked by NSW Ambulance to Killen Falls, north of Ballina,’ said a spokesperson for Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
‘The helicopter critical care medical team winched into the scene, treating and stabilising the patient, before he was airlifted to Gold Coast University Hospital,’ a spokeserson for Westpac Rescue Helicopter said.
Then on Sunday, 10 September Westpac Rescue Helicopter was tasked by NSW Ambulance to two all-terrain vehicle (ATV) rollovers. At 2.30pm they were called to Bentley, west of Lismore.
‘A man was treated on scene by paramedics and the helicopter critical care medical team before being airlifted to Gold Coast University Hospital.’
They also attended a teenager who was involved in a quad bike rollover at Tregeagle, west of Ballina.
‘The man was treated on scene by paramedics and the helicopter critical care medical team before being transported by road, with the medical team, to Lismore Base Hospital,’ said the spokesperson.
Another man was then airlifted in a critical condition to Gold Coast University Hospital on Tuesday, 12 September from Tweed Heads.
Patients are not charged for the services of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service which works in close partnership with both NSW Health and NSW Ambulance.
‘We are very proud to be such an important part of the services network in Northern NSW and our community supports us so well,’ acting CEO of Westpac Rescue Helicopter, James Lawrence, told The Echo.
‘We are proud of the level of helicopter services we provide. Our purpose is quite varied there is the pre-hospital emergency work where we treat people at the scene and prepare them for hospital transfer to medical facilities. There is the search and rescue missions to locate, extract and return people to safety. These take place on land and over water. Then there is the inter-hospital transfer from one facility to another,’ he explained.
‘We are really proud of doing it on behalf of the community who have supported us for so long from individual donors and workplace donations to fundraisers like the golf day, the recent ball in Ballina as well local groups big and small that continue to provide donations.’
Find out more about the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service here.
