Rescue helicopter may be scrapped

The future of the Bay's rescue helicopter is threatened - and the people behind it say they need your help.
Rescue service officials and community leaders have begun a campaign urging Western Bay people to make strong public submissions to Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), which is looking at axing its funding lifeline to the Tauranga-based TrustPower TECT rescue helicopter.
The corporation's air ambulances draft strategy recommends that funding to several helicopter services in the central North Island be scrapped, with cash going only to a chopper in either Hamilton or Tauranga.
It is understood the corporation favours funding only the Hamilton chopper, meaning it would no longer pay for the Tauranga helicopter to attend accidents.
This would mean that a helicopter would have to be sent from Hamilton to help the critically ill and injured - wasting half of the "golden hour" considered necessary to save lives in flying to the Western Bay.
If ACC funding is cut, the Bay helicopter service's future is unclear. It could either be reduced or cut altogether.
The Tauranga helicopter needs $650,000 a year to run, with a third coming from sponsorship, a third from donations, a quarter from the corporation and a smaller amount from local health services.
The corporation's money pays for the helicopter to attend accidents such as falls, work injuries and car crashes.
The likely cut has sparked urgent calls for Bay people to voice support for the helicopter.
Helicopter officials want Bay people to lobby ACC Minister Ruth Dyson and project manager Stuart Francis.
John Funnell, chief pilot for the Philips Search and Rescue Trust which flies the Tauranga chopper - as well as others in Hamilton, Rotorua, Taupo and Palmerston North - said the draft strategy had "got it wrong".
Hamilton was already a busy area and if its helicopter was forced to cover other regions, then there would be longer waiting times for patients, he said. Mr Funnell said Bay people could die if Tauranga's helicopter took a drastic funding cut.
He believed that such a move would actually cost the corporation more because the Hamilton helicopter would have to fly further.
Medical staff stress the need to get seriously hurt people to hospital within a "golden hour".
There are fears that a Hamilton-based helicopter would not always be able to achieve that for Bay patients.
"The Hamilton Machine is busy enough anyway and often needs back-up support from Tauranga when it gets tied up with jobs."
Safety would also be compromised by not having pilots with local knowledge of the terrain, especially when flying at night, said Mr Funnell.
TrustPower TECT pilot Liam Brettkelly said it took a helicopter 25 minutes to reach Tauranga from Hamilton and another 20 minutes to get to Pukehina.
"It's just too long," Mr Brettkelly said.
"Not only is it important to get patients to hospital as quickly as possible, getting specialist medical staff to people at accident scenes is crucial."
Mr Brettkelly urged people whom the service had helped to write submissions.
"Everyone we have rescued in their time of need needs to know that now is the time to help us," he said.
Bay mayors have signed a joint letter supporting the service with Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby said the helicopter needed to stay.
The Bay of Plenty was not well serviced by roads and if a state highway became blocked then helicopter access was essential.
National Party Bay of Plenty MP Tony Ryall said the Government should dump the proposal to cut rescue helicopter services.
"If New Zealand is to learn anything from the tsunami tragedy, it must be the importance of adequate emergency and rescue services."
The draft strategy has been put out for public consultation.
ACC spokesman Richard Bradell said there had been a significant number of submissions, although he was unable to say how many. "There is a heck of a lot of water to go under the bridge before a decision is made," he said.
The draft strategy says that "faster is not always better" and that "the balance of clinical opinion" is that it is better to wait slightly longer for better-quality clinical care.