Service bringing the care to the patient

• Published date: 18 February 2021

Now, Every says, the helicopter is itself “a small flying hospital”.

In a change from the days before a national rescue helicopter service reorganisation in 2018, the helicopter now always has its own intensive care paramedic aboard, who also holds an advanced qualification which allows them to sedate a patient and insert a tube into their throat to allow them to breathe, if necessary.

Rather than scooping up the patient into the helicopter as quickly as possible, as in the past, the intensive care paramedic treats the person at the scene, then continues to treat and monitor them during the helicopter journey.

“It’s not so much about taking the patient to the care, it’s bringing the care to the patient and allowing that to continue while we deliver them to whatever the centre of excellence is where they can get the best care they can,” says Every.

The other major change since 2018 is that now patients are going directly to the best place for their condition, even if it means flying straight past the closest hospital. If it’s a stroke, they’re off to Auckland. A heart condition goes to Waikato Hospital. A spinal injury goes to Middlemore or even Burwood in Christchurch. That saves time later having to transfer patients for the right care.

Before the rescue helicopter services reorganisation, the Greenlea rescue helicopter was a single-engine Squirrel in Taupō with one fulltime and a part-time pilot, plus volunteer crewmen. Up to 10 local paramedics had to be trained to work in the helicopter, and if the on-duty paramedics were busy, the helicopter had to wait for one to become available. Precious time would be spent before missions finding a crewman and paramedic.

Now under the new system — where Hamilton, Tauranga and Taupō-based helicopters serve the entire Central Plateau/Lakes region — the Greenlea rescue helicopter has a BK-117 twin-engine helicopter with a state-of-the-art avionics system and room for a paramedic to treat a patient in-flight. It is operated by a crew of pilot, crewman and intensive care paramedic, and can lift off within 10 minutes of a callout, day or night. Thanks to the Greenlea Foundation, there is now crew accommodation at its Taupō Airport base for them to have a rest or meal while on-call.

“It’s definitely better, unquestionably better, 100 per cent better,” says Every. “We’ve got the resources available here, we had some very dedicated and highly-skilled people helping us in the past but we were at the mercy of a lot of...