The crew on the West Coast are often dealing with the most challenging of conditions and an average mission length is longer due to the vast distances. We are blessed to now have Westpac NZ as our associate sponsor; this new level of support underpins the service on the West Coast.ย The Critical Care Paramedics on the coast are the highest qualified medical resource available for the community. In areas like the West Coast, when there is an emergency, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter is the only option and can be the difference between life and death.
We extend a sincere thank you to ROA Mining for their significant support of the service over 13 years. Their generous commitment ensured that the West Coast community had access to this vital emergency response capability. ROA Mining will continue to support their community through their sponsorship of the New Zealand Flying Doctor Service. This sister service to the rescue helicopters is a regular visitor to the West Coast transporting patients between hospitals to the higher acuity care they need.
Left to right โ Hernan, Peet, Joshua, Tom, Dazza
As well as fundraising to support missions on the West Coast we are working on a number of exciting projects to improve patient care and save more lives. Very soon, the existing BK-117 will be replaced with a state-of-the-art H145 helicopter that will have more advanced avionics. This will facilitate Instrument Flight Rules (IFR), allowing the crew to fly in lower cloud conditions, enabling the rescue helicopter to respond in more compromised weather conditions โ a real game changer for the West Coast. This will be accompanied by equipment upgrades and advanced training, so the crew are fully prepared for all missions.
Mission support
Can you contribute to the cost of a mission or fund a lifesaving mission?
You can support a complete mission
1 mission- $5,000
2 missions – $10,000
4 missions – $20,000.
Or give a monthly gift – $20, $30, $50, or your choice
Special Projects Development Fund
The West Coast community is currently served by a twin engine H145.
| MAKE/MODEL | Airbus H145 |
| ENGINE | 2x turbomeca arriel 2E turboshaft |
| SHAFT HORSEPOWER | 1072 HP each engine (one engine inoperative) |
| CREW | 1 pilot, 1 critical care paramedic, 1 paramedic / winch operator |
| MAX SPEED | 278kph |
| CRUISE SPEED | 238kph |
| RANGE | 651 kilometres |
| SERVICE | 1 HELICOPTER AND CREW ON CALL 24/7 |
| MISSIONS | 300+ AVERAGE PER YEAR JUST ON THE WEST COAST |
Our community and corporate sponsors are greatly valued. Without their support our service would not be able to operate. The Canterbury West Coast Rescue Helicopter Trust gratefully acknowledges the following companies whose generous support contributes to the efficient operation of a viable FREE Rescue Helicopter Service in our region.
Rob was trapped in this boat. Water rushing in, his friend holding his head above the water. It took a team to save him.
โ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ท๐ผ๐ฏ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ผ๐ ... ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ." ๐๐ฎ๐๐ต, ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ
Putting together a mission is like putting together a puzzle โ everyone has a vital role to play.
When it came to rescuing Rob, the rescue crew needed each other more than ever. While Kath was down the wire, in the boat, she relied on the exceptional skill of the winch operator and pilot to get her โ and Rob โ out.
Kath talks about this rescue here: https://www.airrescue.co.nz/stories/trapped-under-water-a-truly-life-saving-mission/
This Chopper Appeal, we need to raise $100,000 to support the rescue helicopters across Canterbury and the West Coast. Can you help?
Donate today. www.airrescue.co.nz/chopper
Or see the Chopper Appeal link on our Linktree
A very special moment for the West Coast as its first dedicated H145 Westpac Rescue Helicopter was officially welcomed to the region.
We promised we would deliver the West Coast a world-class rescue helicopter service. That is what this rescue helicopter will help provide.
Critical Care Paramedic Rod says going from the BK117 to the H145 is like going from a Ford Cortina to a Tesla - a massive leap forward.
๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ณ๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ, ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐ ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ฐ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
Extra special thanks to ANZCO Foods, Rapid Relief Team NZ, Westpac NZ, Mitre10 MEGA Greymouth, The Rescue Warriors, ROA Mining, Air Rescue and Community Services, Bathurst Resources, BRM Developments, Westfleet
Read more here: https://www.airrescue.co.nz/stories/west-coasts-new-h145-officially-unveiled or see Latest News on our Linktree
This is what a deep clean of the rescue helicopter looks like.
After a recent water rescue off the North Canterbury coast, a GCH Aviation engineer spent the morning cleaning and wiping down every part of our H145 Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
As well as salt water being stirred up by the downwash of the rescue helicopter, the two fishermen who were rescued โ and the critical care paramedic who was winched down to rescue them โ were very wet.
Salt water is corrosive so, with salt water on the inside and outside of the rescue helicopter, a deep clean was required. Luckily the engineering team came to the rescue โ and the sun was shining which made the process easier!
We are extremely proud of our new H145 rescue helicopters and do all we can to take the very best care of these life-saving machines.
Want to know more about the state-of-the-art H145 helicopters we have recently purchased for the rescue service? Head to www.airrescue.co.nz.
And the winner is ....
๐ก๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ!
Crews from the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and the New Zealand Flying Doctor Service loved seeing these beautiful colourings and lovely comments for the crew. They simply couldn`t choose just one winner, so the crews selected two finalists each - and from there we randomly selected the main prize winner.
The four finalists are:
๐Siwoo, age 10
๐Nina, age 3
โ๏ธFrancine, age 6
โ๏ธOlivia, age 4
Thank you to all those who attended the GCH Aviation Open Day and generously supported the work of the Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust and the NZ Flying Doctor Trust.
@newzealandflyingdoctors
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