Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service
Encyclopedia
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service was founded in 1973 by Surf Life Saving Australia
. Since this time, the Service has carried out more than 50,000 flights ranging from patient transfers to search and rescue missions
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service is the longest serving search and rescue helicopter service in the world, it is also the largest non-profit search and rescue, and aeromedical retrieval service in Australia.
Its aircraft and trained medical and operational crews respond quickly and effectively to emergencies threatening the life, health and safety of people caused through medical emergency, illness, natural disaster, accidents or mishap.
The major sponsor of the helicopter services is the banking corporation, Westpac
.
. All ambulance contracted helicopters in NSW fly with onboard doctors and paramedics.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter base in Newcastle serves as the head of operations for the Newcastle and Tamworth services.
Note: During the first half of 2011 Westpac 2 will be based in Tamworth along with the current Tamworth BK 117 'Westpac 3'.
The Newcastle base will house a newly purchased second Bell 412, an EP model to go with the existing 412SP.
Mid June 2011 the new Bell 412 arrived at the Newcastle base and will enter full service in two months. The new Bell 412 (Westpac 2) had its first mission on 16 August 2011 . The aircraft flew 200 kilometres off the Port Macquarie coastline to collect a sick crewman onboard a bulk carrier.
Lismores base also houses a third Life Saver helicopter purchased for a possible Coffs Harbour base.
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopters patrols the southeast Queensland coast, performing beach patrols, shark sightings and warnings and provides assistance to Surf Lifesavers in the water and on the beach. Westpac also sponsors three Jet Rescue Boats (JRB) in Queensland.
The service will work closely with the volunteer beach patrols, paid lifeguards, and offshore services, and is readily available to assist other emergency services and government agencies. The service will also undertake community education and promotional activities throughout the year and will be available 24/7 for call-outs.
Life Saving Victoria also works closely with the police air-wing and the Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad which enables the fastest response to emergency calls.
The helicopters are tasked to undertake a number of different missions:
The service's pilots are highly trained having flown thousands of hours in twin engined aircraft.
The air crewman assists the pilot with communication, navigation and landing by providing the pilot with accurate clearance, helicopter safety and operating the rescue winch.
A rescue crewman is qualified and proficient in the operation of both equipment techniques necessary to be despatched from the helicopter to a person or persons in distress and to render the necessary aid prior to evacuation by the most appropriate means. This includes going down the winch, scaling cliff faces and swimming. Rescue crew are also responsible for passenger safety during Passenger Transport Operations.
Special Casualty Access Team (S.C.A.T.) paramedics possess elite skills in intensive care / Advance Life Support (ALS) and trauma management, have skills in accessing and treating patients in difficult or remote locations e.g. canyons, vertical access, caves, etc. SCAT work closely with the local accredited rescue units to access, assess, triage and treat patients. When required, SCAT may also provide assistance with the extrication of the patient. They provide patient care and are responsible for preparing the aero medical evacuation missions, coordinating with the flight crew and other medical personnel, as well as liaising with retrieval services.
Doctors specially qualified in Emergency Care and retrieval medicine are also part of the team. This enables the crew to provide critical care to a patients anywhere it is needed.
(VH-HRS), based in Newcastle.
(VH-WSR) based at the Newcastle base. Westpac 2 is the first response aircraft.
Mid 2011 this new helicopter took over the callsign Westpac 2 which was previously assigned to the Kawasaki Heavy Industries BK 117B2 (VH-HRR) based in Newcastle.
This callsign was previously assigned to a Bell 407
which was involved in an accident in February 2007
The previous callsign of this helicopter was Westpac 2.
Before the change of location and callsign this helicopter worked out of the Newcastle base.
BK 117B2 (VH-SLU).
Services Northern NSW & South East QLD.
BK 117B2 (VH-SLA). It is based on the NSW South Coast out of Moruya Airport.
This helicopter is a Bell 206
, Jetranger VH-BIN based at Floreat Beach Perth during summer from October until March.
helicopter services in the Sydney region was put in doubt. The NSW Government had sought a new tender to provide EMS services for the Sydney and Central West areas.
Mid December 2006, the NSW Health Minister, John Hatzistergos, announced that the Canadian Helicopter Corporation
(CHC) had won the tendering process and subsequently the Westpac Life Saver and Careflight services in the Sydney region would end as of 31 December 2006.
The services of the Sydney Westpac Helicopter were terminated at the end of May 2007 whilst CareFlight, though losing its traditional contract, continues to provide doctors to the Ambulance Rescue Helicopters in Sydney and Orange.
Westpac Life Saver announced that they would continue their services after May 2007 by returning to their original purpose as a search and rescue helicopter as part of the Sydney Life Saving Australia.
Throughout the change over period, the general public and the Opposition NSW Government were outraged by the replacing a charity based, not-for-profit organisation with a profit-driven service.
While Westpac Rescue (throughout Australia) and the CareFlight helicopter services have always worked on the basis that no person in need should pay for the usage of the aircraft, the NSW Government-appointed CHC Helicopter services charge for the usage of their aircraft. What is less well publicised is that the operators that provide aircraft to CareFlight are commercial services that operate on a "for profit" basis and that many staff including doctors and pilots are not volunteers, but are employed whilst working with CareFlight.
As of December 2009 CHC are quietly trying to sell the Australian wing of the Emergency Helicopters. This follows a series of mishaps which have included engine failures, windows falling out of the aircraft, no installed air conditioning system inside the cabin as well as response delays to accident sites.
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Services will continue to operate from the Newcastle/Hunter Region, Tamworth and Lismore bases in New South Wales and all other states where the helicopter service exists.
Surf Life Saving Australia
Surf lifesaving is a multifaceted movement that comprises key aspects of voluntary lifeguard services and competitive surf sport. Originating in early 20th century Australia, the movement has expanded globally to other countries including New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and the United States...
. Since this time, the Service has carried out more than 50,000 flights ranging from patient transfers to search and rescue missions
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service is the longest serving search and rescue helicopter service in the world, it is also the largest non-profit search and rescue, and aeromedical retrieval service in Australia.
Its aircraft and trained medical and operational crews respond quickly and effectively to emergencies threatening the life, health and safety of people caused through medical emergency, illness, natural disaster, accidents or mishap.
The major sponsor of the helicopter services is the banking corporation, Westpac
Westpac
Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....
.
Operational areas
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service operates in fives states in Australia and New Zealand. These states are:New South Wales
Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service has four operation bases and a total of eight rescue aircraft in New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. All ambulance contracted helicopters in NSW fly with onboard doctors and paramedics.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter base in Newcastle serves as the head of operations for the Newcastle and Tamworth services.
- Newcastle (Westpac 1 and Westpac 2).
- Tamworth (Westpac 3 and Westpac 4)
- Sydney (Lifesaver 1)
- South Coast (Lifesaver 3)
- Lismore (Life Saver 2 and Life Saver 4)
Note: During the first half of 2011 Westpac 2 will be based in Tamworth along with the current Tamworth BK 117 'Westpac 3'.
The Newcastle base will house a newly purchased second Bell 412, an EP model to go with the existing 412SP.
Mid June 2011 the new Bell 412 arrived at the Newcastle base and will enter full service in two months. The new Bell 412 (Westpac 2) had its first mission on 16 August 2011 . The aircraft flew 200 kilometres off the Port Macquarie coastline to collect a sick crewman onboard a bulk carrier.
Lismores base also houses a third Life Saver helicopter purchased for a possible Coffs Harbour base.
Queensland
Victoria
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter is being re-introduced in the upcoming season. The Westpac Aerial Service, which currently consists of Lifesaver 7, a fixed wing Cessna 337 and Lifesaver 8, also a fixed wing, Partenavia P68-B, will have the increased capability of a rescue helicopter. The Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter will conduct regular patrols and undertake rescue missions across Victoria.The service will work closely with the volunteer beach patrols, paid lifeguards, and offshore services, and is readily available to assist other emergency services and government agencies. The service will also undertake community education and promotional activities throughout the year and will be available 24/7 for call-outs.
Life Saving Victoria also works closely with the police air-wing and the Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad which enables the fastest response to emergency calls.
Tasmania
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service in Tasmania plays a vital part of the emergency services for the people living in Tasmania. The helicopter plays a similar role to the helicopters in New South Wales and has a contract with the Ambulance Service of Tasmania as well as the Tasmanian Police.South Australia
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter in South Australia patrols beaches on weekends, public holidays and busy weekdays over summer from November through to March each year. Its patrolling region is the Adelaide coastline from North Haven to Normanville, and the South Coast from Parsons Beach to the Murray Mouth, including Victor Harbor, Port Elliot, Middleton and Goolwa. It works together with other Surf Lifesaving support services, including Lifesaver 1 and Lifesaver 3, the state Jet Rescue Boats.Western Australia
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter in WA was launched in December 2008 and patrols beaches on weekends, public holidays and busy weekdays over the summer months.Role
The Wespac Life Saver Rescue Helicopters respond to medical emergencies throughout the majority of Australia, covering hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of bushland, mountain ranges, Australia's busiest highways as well as the coastlines of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.The helicopters are tasked to undertake a number of different missions:
- Primary missions: A helicopter is tasked to an industrial, recreational, motor vehicle accident or natural disaster to deliver their medical expertise and provide life saving support.
- Secondary missions: A helicopter is tasked to transport a patient from a country hospital to a metropolitan hospital for specialist care.
- Search and rescue missions: A helicopter is tasked to locate an distress beacon activated from a downed aircraft or vessel out at sea.
- Recovery missions: A helicopter is tasked to recover a body from an inaccessible area.
Flight crew
The air crewman assists the pilot with communication, navigation and landing by providing the pilot with accurate clearance, helicopter safety and operating the rescue winch.
A rescue crewman is qualified and proficient in the operation of both equipment techniques necessary to be despatched from the helicopter to a person or persons in distress and to render the necessary aid prior to evacuation by the most appropriate means. This includes going down the winch, scaling cliff faces and swimming. Rescue crew are also responsible for passenger safety during Passenger Transport Operations.
Special Casualty Access Team (S.C.A.T.) paramedics possess elite skills in intensive care / Advance Life Support (ALS) and trauma management, have skills in accessing and treating patients in difficult or remote locations e.g. canyons, vertical access, caves, etc. SCAT work closely with the local accredited rescue units to access, assess, triage and treat patients. When required, SCAT may also provide assistance with the extrication of the patient. They provide patient care and are responsible for preparing the aero medical evacuation missions, coordinating with the flight crew and other medical personnel, as well as liaising with retrieval services.
Doctors specially qualified in Emergency Care and retrieval medicine are also part of the team. This enables the crew to provide critical care to a patients anywhere it is needed.
Westpac 1 (Hunter Region, Newcastle)
Westpac 1 is a Bell 412Bell 412
The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212 model, the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor.-Design and development:...
(VH-HRS), based in Newcastle.
Westpac 2 (Hunter Region, Newcastle)
This helicopter is a Bell 412Bell 412
The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212 model, the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor.-Design and development:...
(VH-WSR) based at the Newcastle base. Westpac 2 is the first response aircraft.
Mid 2011 this new helicopter took over the callsign Westpac 2 which was previously assigned to the Kawasaki Heavy Industries BK 117B2 (VH-HRR) based in Newcastle.
Westpac 3 (New England/North West Region, Tamworth)
This helicopter is a twin engine BK117 (VH-HRT), based in Tamworth.This callsign was previously assigned to a Bell 407
Bell 407
The Bell 407 is a four-blade, single-engine, civil utility helicopter; a derivative of the Bell 206L-4 LongRanger. The 407 uses the four-blade rotor with composite hub developed for the United States Army's OH-58D Kiowa Warrior instead of the two-blade, semi-rigid rotor of the 206L-4...
which was involved in an accident in February 2007
Westpac 4 (New England/North West Region, Tamworth)
This helicopter is a twin engine BK117 (VH-HRT), based in Tamworth.The previous callsign of this helicopter was Westpac 2.
Before the change of location and callsign this helicopter worked out of the Newcastle base.
Lifesaver 1 (Southern Region, Sydney)
Lifesaver 1 is a Kawasaki Heavy IndustriesKawasaki Heavy Industries
is an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Chūō-ku, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo.The company is named after its founder Shōzō Kawasaki and has no connection with the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa....
BK 117B2 (VH-SLU).
Lifesaver 2 (Northern Region, Lismore)
This helicopter is a twin engine Eurocopter AS 365 N2 Dauphin, based in Lismore.Services Northern NSW & South East QLD.
Lifesaver 3 (Southern Region, Sydney)
Lifesaver 3 is a Kawasaki Heavy IndustriesKawasaki Heavy Industries
is an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Chūō-ku, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo.The company is named after its founder Shōzō Kawasaki and has no connection with the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa....
BK 117B2 (VH-SLA). It is based on the NSW South Coast out of Moruya Airport.
Lifesaver 4 (Northern Region, Lismore)
This helicopter is a twin engine Eurocopter SA 365 N2 Dauphin, based in Lismore.Lifesaver 6
Primary Aircraft - Eurocopter AS350 B2 Squirrel. Used for static line rescue and as an observation platform.Lifesaver 7 (Melbourne, Victoria)
Lifesaver 7 is a Eurocopter EC135. Used only as an observation platform and for dropping rescue swimmers.Lifesaver 8 (Melbourne, Victoria)
Lifesaver 8 is a fixed wing Partenavia P68-B, used mainly for shark spotting. (Retired late 2009)Lifesaver 5 (Gold Coast)
These helicopters are - a Eurocopter AS-350BA Super D1 and, the Eurocopter EC-135P2.Westpac 501
This helicopter is usually a Eurocopter AS-350B. Registration VH-ELP. The helicopter is named 'Nick' after Nick Peterson who was tragically taken by a shark of the Adelaide coastline. The helicopter is currently operating as a Bell 206 Jetranger III.Western Australia
'Lifesaver 1'This helicopter is a Bell 206
Bell 206
The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- or twin-engine helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter program, the 206 failed to be selected...
, Jetranger VH-BIN based at Floreat Beach Perth during summer from October until March.
Loss of Ambulance Service of NSW contract in the Sydney region
In late 2006, the future of the Westpac Life Saver and CareFlight InternationalCareFlight International Air Ambulance
CareFlight International Air Ambulance is an Australian registered charity that operates air ambulances and specialist medical teams to patients anywhere in the world. The organisation was incorporated in 1986 when its first helicopter, a Squirrel AS350B was commissioned...
helicopter services in the Sydney region was put in doubt. The NSW Government had sought a new tender to provide EMS services for the Sydney and Central West areas.
Mid December 2006, the NSW Health Minister, John Hatzistergos, announced that the Canadian Helicopter Corporation
CHC Helicopter
CHC Helicopter is one of the world’s largest helicopter services company specializing in: Transportation to offshore oil and gas platforms; Civilian search and rescue services; Helicopter maintenance repair and overhaul...
(CHC) had won the tendering process and subsequently the Westpac Life Saver and Careflight services in the Sydney region would end as of 31 December 2006.
The services of the Sydney Westpac Helicopter were terminated at the end of May 2007 whilst CareFlight, though losing its traditional contract, continues to provide doctors to the Ambulance Rescue Helicopters in Sydney and Orange.
Westpac Life Saver announced that they would continue their services after May 2007 by returning to their original purpose as a search and rescue helicopter as part of the Sydney Life Saving Australia.
Throughout the change over period, the general public and the Opposition NSW Government were outraged by the replacing a charity based, not-for-profit organisation with a profit-driven service.
While Westpac Rescue (throughout Australia) and the CareFlight helicopter services have always worked on the basis that no person in need should pay for the usage of the aircraft, the NSW Government-appointed CHC Helicopter services charge for the usage of their aircraft. What is less well publicised is that the operators that provide aircraft to CareFlight are commercial services that operate on a "for profit" basis and that many staff including doctors and pilots are not volunteers, but are employed whilst working with CareFlight.
As of December 2009 CHC are quietly trying to sell the Australian wing of the Emergency Helicopters. This follows a series of mishaps which have included engine failures, windows falling out of the aircraft, no installed air conditioning system inside the cabin as well as response delays to accident sites.
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Services will continue to operate from the Newcastle/Hunter Region, Tamworth and Lismore bases in New South Wales and all other states where the helicopter service exists.
See also
- WestpacWestpacWestpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....
- Ambulance Service of New South WalesAmbulance Service of New South WalesThe Ambulance Service of New South Wales , an agency of the Department of Health of the New South Wales Government, is the main provider of pre-hospital emergency care and ambulance services in the state of New South Wales, Australia....
- June 2007 Hunter Region and Central Coast storms
- MV Pasha BulkerMV Pasha BulkerThe MV Pasha Bulker is a Panamax bulk carrier of operated by the Lauritzen Bulkers Shipping company and owned by Japanese Disponent Owners. While waiting in the open ocean outside the harbour to load coal the Pasha Bulker ran aground during a major storm on 8 June 2007 on Nobbys Beach in...
- Westpac Rescue Helicopter (New Zealand)Westpac Rescue Helicopter (New Zealand)The Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter is a New Zealand accident and emergency rescue and transport service operated by the Auckland Regional Rescue Helicopter Trust. The Trust operates two BK117-850 D2 helicopters on behalf of the helicopter owners - the greater Auckland community...