Mount Isa's new RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter has performed its first night mission on the weekend with the new local chopper, using Night Vision Goggle (NVG) technology to retrieve a cardiac patient.
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Lifeflight said the helicopter was tasked to a Cloncurry mine site just before 6pm Saturday night, though they didn’t identify which site.
There they airlifted a woman in her 20's suffering chest pain. The aircraft was able to land at the mine site just before sunset.
The helicopter then used NVG technology to safely fly the patient back to Mount Isa, landing at the landing pad at Kruttschnitt Oval. The woman traveled in a stable condition and was then transported to Mount Isa Hospital by the Queensland Ambulance Service for treatment.
This was the first primary task (where the helicopter lands at the scene of an incident) undertaken by the new helicopter, which arrived in Mount Isa less than two weeks ago. It was also the first time the crew used NVG technology on a task.
The upgraded helicopter means the Mount Isa crew now has greater capability to save lives and serve the North-West community. The helicopter offers a better medical platform, improving speed and range, and allows for two patients to be transported in most situations (compared to one in the previous helicopter). Its NVG capability also enhances the crew’s night flying capability, allowing them to land in almost any location within a 300km radius.
LifeFlight is a community-based charity that relies on donations from the public and community support to the LifeFlight Foundation.
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.
