The Mount Isa RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter will have greater capability to save lives and serve the North West with an upgrade of the local helicopter.
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The budget announcement of a new $2.4 million, 12 month funding package for the Mount Isa LifeFlight base has enabled the charity to introduce a better and faster helicopter to double the lifesaving capability.
The current twin-engine Bell 230 will be replaced by a twin-engine BK117 which offers a better medical platform, improves speed and range and allows for two patients to be transported in most situations compared to one currently.
Mount Isa’s new helicopter is due by August and will be Night Vision Goggle (NVG) capable, which will enhance the three-man crew’s night flying capability and allow them to land in almost any location in a 300km radius.
The aircraft will also have winch equipment which will enable the crew to winch patients when the chopper is unable to land.
LifeFlight Deputy Chairman Jim Elder said the upgraded helicopter was great news for the region.
“The enhanced capability is significant, now that we can carry two patients as well as fly further, faster and anywhere at night,” Mr Elder said.
“It should provide a greater peace of mind to everyone lthat LifeFlight will be there for them – anyone, anywhere, anytime.”
LifeFlight has been operating from its Mount Isa base since July 2015, when it merged with NQ Rescue which had been here since 2007.
Last year a joint aeromedical operations model with the RFDS was implemented through an Aeromedical Joint Operations Oversight Committee (AJOOC) chaired by Tony McGrady.
“We always knew that expanding the operations of the Mount Isa helicopter would bring new challenges to the Oversight Committee,” Mr McGrady said.
“That’s why we were so pleased when the five Mayors of the region’s local councils agreed to assist the RFDSQ and LifeFlight to integrate the services and ensure it achieved long term sustainable funding outcomes.”
In February, the services combined to save a young man who had suffered leg injuries in a two vehicle head-on crash near Cloncurry. The RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter transported the patient from Cloncurry Hospital to the Julia Creek Airstrip, where a RFDS aircraft was waiting to transport the patient to Townsville for further treatment.
The Mount Isa-based RACQ LifeFlight rescue helicopter has performed 48 missions since July 2015, including 26 primary missions where the helicopter landed at the scene of an incident or accident.
The most common types of incident in the North-West over the past two years have been medical episodes (cardiac, stroke, illness and infection) followed by motor vehicle accidents, falls, and animal bites or attacks.
The most recent was a 400km-round trip from Mount Isa to airlift a truck driver who had suffered suspected spinal and head injuries after being flipped two metres into the air by a rogue bull while he was mustering cattle near the NT border.
The new aircraft was welcomed by all local councils with Richmond Mayor John Wharton saying they were fortunate to have two iconic services providing a complete blanket of care for the community while Cloncurry Mayor Greg Campbell said the mayors were proud to be part of the committee and its vital role to provide optimal patient outcomes in the region.
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
