Northland Rescue Helicopter, Celebrating 30 Years

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2016

MIGHTY MIKE to the GIVEAWAY rescue in new story book A

rescue chopper called Mike has the starring role in the latest storybook from the Northland Rescue Helicopter.

Mighty Mike to the Rescue, which went on sale this week, is the service’s third children’s book following the success of Juliet to the Rescue in 2016 and Lima Leaps to the Rescue last year.

The book will be launched on November 16 with two events at Whangarei’s St Francis Xavier Primary School and Morningside School to celebrate Northland Rescue Helicopter’s 30 years in service and as part of its annual fundraising appeal.

All proceeds from the sale of the books go to the Northland Emergency Services Trust which operates the Northland Rescue Helicopters.

Illustrated by Auckland artist Tony McNeight, the books are an adventure series that follow the rescue service’s three helicopters during daring life-saving missions around Northland.

The latest book follows thrill-seeking

brother and sister duo Tia and Ollie who head off to explore the swamps and bogs at popular Kai Iwi Lakes. With their native bird friends in tow, including Kenny the Kereru and Kiri the Kiwi, they find themselves lost as darkness descends.

When the alarm is raised, it’s up to Mighty Mike and trusty pilot Tama, who was himself rescued by another chopper Juliet, head off into the night to find them.

Northland Rescue Helicopter General Manager, Vanessa Furze, says like the previous two books it is a rollicking adventure story that doubles as a fun fundraising project.

“It’s great to be able to bring all of our helicopters to life through the books and because we’re celebrating 30 years of saving lives this year its extra special that Mike is on the cover because he has been around for a big part of that time.”

She says because the service relies heavily on donations it tries to come up with different ideas to raise funds and with the support of a number of sponsors the story books have been

a huge success.

“The books give the choppers a personality all of their own and this one brings Mike to life and shows him as a caring, fun, and courageous chopper which we like to think is what all of our helicopters are like.”

Ms Furze says the story continues to raise awareness of what the Northland Rescue Chopper does for the region, reinforces the importance of safety, and incorporates elements of te reo to reflect the influence and importance of the M ori community in Northland.

“We want to ensure everyone stays safe when they are outdoors, be it at the beach, in the forest, or at the lake. And as Mike says in the story, ‘When you’re out exploring you should always stick to the track. If you don’t, you might not find your way back’.”

Across the region over the last three months NRH has attended 254 rescue missions. It makes 2018 the busiest year on record for the rescue service having responded to 849 missions so far.

We have 3 copies of Mighty Mike to the Rescue to give away.

To enter simply email ads@northernadvocate.co.nz with your name and phone number. Winners will be drawn on Thursday 22 November, and will be notified by email.

Buy Mighty Mike to the Rescue here http://www.nest.org.nz/product/ juliet-to-the-rescue/ with all proceeds going to Northland Rescue Helicopter

CONGRATULATIONS TO NORTHLANDS RESCUE HELICOPTER

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MIGHTY MIKE TO THE RESCUE

CONTENTS 4 5 6

Our third children’s book celebrates 30 years of service to Northland.

Northland’s Angels in the Sky

Northland’s very own life-saving initiative Journey of a Flight Nurse – Janet Barker Keeping people alive in Tai Tokerau

7 8

Mike, the courageous rescue helicopter heads out to rescue a daring duo who have lost their way on an adventure at the popular holiday destination Kai Iwi Lakes.

9 10

The story tellers giving Northland rescue helicopter a positive spin Lynda Tracey – Another shot at life Rower at the helm of Northland Rescue Helicopter Appeal Northland Regional Council – Proud to support critical Rescue Chopper service

DID YOU KNOW...

Hannah Blake – Chopper Story – My Story Kayla Morrison – A flight in Hope

11 12 13

You can support the Northland Rescue Helicopter by purchasing Mighty Mike to the Rescue for just $10.

ATV LifeGuard® & Solar-Shield® Canopies The Golden Hour saves Northland woman Jenny Finlayson – A life saved in Kaipara Paul Ahlers – Thank You Northland

14

Cliff Colquhoun – Speed the saviour for Ahipara man

CHIEF PILOT PETE TURNBULL HAS BEEN ABOARD 7000 OF THE SIKORSKY FLIGHT HOURS

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Northland’s ANGELS in the sky

T

his Saturday, the Northland Rescue Helicopter service marks the anniversary of its first flight.

It was November 17, 1988 that the service landed its Bell Jet Ranger in the car park of Kaitaia Hospital to fly a seriously ill mother of three – Lynda Tracey – to ICU at Whangarei Hospital. That flight saved her life and she is still with us today.

The Northland Rescue Helicopter service has had an enormous positive impact on the Northland community the past three decades.

And it is all thanks to a bunch of visionary Northlanders who saw the increasing need to find a way of getting sick or injured people in and around Northland to medical facilities with urgency.

Helicopters ticked that box because a six-hour drive became a one-hour flight – one golden hour which is often the difference between life and death.

So they made it happen and with plenty of local support – financial and in-kind – the Northland Rescue Helicopter service was borne.

No-one could have predicted just how the need for that service would explode over the next three decades and well over 20,000 flights later. There were barely 200 patients carried that first year and now that figure is upwards of 900 annually … and growing.

Northpower Chief Executive Andrew McLeod says 30 years of saving lives is an impressive legacy.

Along with Top Energy, Northpower has been sponsoring of the Northland Rescue Helicopter service since day one – back in 1988 – funds which

gave a much needed cash-injection to kick-start the operation.

Both companies remain strong advocates of the service because they see it as a critically important cause for the local community and that is why the combined to manage the annual fundraising appeal.

Northpower and Top Energy have contributed more than $5 million to the service in the last 30 years and staff from both companies have charitably given a substantial amount of time to help out – along with being helped out by the chopper on many occasions.

Like the Northland Rescue Chopper service, Northpower and Top Energy are very much Northland businesses - locally owned and operated - and are appreciative of the support they receive from the community, along with the significant financial backing of the service by the Northland Regional Council and other local businesses.

“We see it as a real privilege to work alongside so many passionate people wanting to make a difference to the community,” says Mr McLeod.

“This service needs the support of our community and all of those volunteers who sit there behind the scenes making a difference. Beyond sponsorship, we certainly like to be involved at a grassroots level to

make a difference.”

Vanessa Furze, General Manager of the Northland Rescue Helicopter service, says she cannot thank the people and businesses that donate to the service enough.

“It would be fair to say that the majority of Northlanders have probably been touched by this service in one way or another, given the number of patients we have carried over the last 30 years,” says Mrs Furze.

“Since I took on this role five years ago, a handful of my family members and close friends have been both rescued from accident scenes and transferred from local hospitals to Auckland hospital during medical emergencies by the Northland Rescue Helicopter.

“I think it is essential that we keep this service free to all New Zealanders. The last thing a patient or family member needs at a time that is already very distressing is the thought of how they could afford otherwise to access this service. And that’s a really special part of my role - meeting patients that we have carried.

“We don’t often have patients visit us, but when they do it is a very emotional experience. I find it very hard to keep composed when the realisation hits

DID YOU KNOW...

YEAR 1: 200 FLIGHTS YEAR 30: 849 FLIGHTS TO DATE

of how much their life has been affected. Knowing that the service has saved their life or a loved family member is very heart warming.”

Top Energy Chief Executive Russell Shaw says with staff out on the roads every day he recognises the need to have a first-class air ambulance service that can respond to that golden hour - especially in such a geographically challenging region.

“We have had staff members and their family members helped by the Northland Rescue Helicopters so we certainly appreciate knowing it is there for us in that golden hour of need – as I think every Northlander does …… and visitors to the region,” says Mr Shaw.

“We are so lucky to have this amazing service, and let’s face it, it is world-class. It has looked after us for 30 years and I am pleased it will remain in the North keeping us safe for the next 30 years.”

Two of the Northland Rescue Choppers are based in Whangarei and one on the North Shore to assist with specialist long-haul flights around the North Island and beyond.

The service is the only air ambulance operation currently in New Zealand that can fly 24/7 year round due to flying Instrument Flight Rules and with two pilots at all times.

All choppers are crewed by St John Flight Intensive Care Paramedics who are experienced pre-hospital emergency clinicians providing expert medical care and treatment. The St John influence has been critical to the success of the operation since day one.

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Northland’s very own LIFE-SAVING INITIATIVE

O

ver the past three years, the Northland Rescue Chopper service has teamed up with St John to complete 250 heart attack patient transfers from parts of Northland to Auckland Hospital – an initiative once unique to Northland and which has saved dozens of lives.

Mark Going, St John Intensive Care Paramedic says these are known as STEMI transfers and are where people suffering from a blockage of the blood vessels supplying their heart are transferred by helicopter to a Catheter Lab in Auckland Hospital.

The role of the lab is to unblock the coronary blood vessel causing the heart attack and therefore reducing the damage to the heart muscle due to lack of blood.

“There are two types of STEMI transfers. One is where the patient is already in a hospital, and the other (STEMI Bypass) where the patient is seen by ambulance paramedics in the Whangarei community and bypass the local hospital system, where they are taken by ambulance directly to the Whangarei helipad and flown straight to Auckland,” says Mr Going.

“The pre-hospital STEMI Bypass has proven very effective in getting Northlanders to definitive care in a timely manner. The international standard for getting patients suffering from a heart attack to a Catheter Lab is 120 minutes from the first medical contact to when a balloon is inflated in the patient’s artery.”

Currently, Northland St John Flight Medics are achieving a median of 101 minutes, well inside the best practice time frame.

The Northland Rescue Helicopter and its crew are an important key to getting cardiac patients to the care they require, with the realisation that any time delay can mean greater damage to the heart, says Mr Going.

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Journey of a Flight Nurse

Keeping people alive in Tai Tokerau

JANET BARKER

NURSING HAS BEEN A GOOD CAREER – BOTH CHALLENGING AND REWARDING

I

t has given me some great experiences and I have made many wonderful friends from the colleagues I have met and worked alongside over the years. Aside from helping people in need, flying really is the best part.

I trained as a nurse in the UK and quickly specialised in the critical care nursing area, loving the challenge and reward of caring for critically ill and unstable adults and children. In 1984 I received a phone call on a day off to ask if I would fly with a patient to a large tertiary hospital on the other side of the UK. In those days there were no dedicated air ambulances but after my first flight I was hooked.

Fast forward a couple of years and my husband and I emigrated to NZ and I took over as Charge Nurse of the Intensive Care Unit at Whangarei Hospital.

To transfer critically ill patients back then (1986-1988) we had to use ambulances or, sometimes, small planes.

So I was delighted to 1988 learn that NEST had been formed and planned to provide an air ambulance helicopter service around Northland.

I was excited to be involved in this early development and the ICU staff of that time participated in many fundraising events to support this service and also have a helipad constructed on the hospital roof. Before that pad, we would land down Horahora

School and had to wave at all the children as we transferred our patient into a waiting ambulance!

A core group of nurses quickly became the main ones to go on all flights, along with one of the Consultant Anaesthetists or Paediatricians that were on duty. Many of the ICU nurses would be unofficially ‘on call’ to ensure ongoing provision of what was rapidly seen as an essential service.

As the years passed, the ICU facility on the ground was upgraded, redesigned and rebuilt and the flight service grew into the amazing operation it is today.

We have transitioned from the tiny Jet Ranger, to a Squirrel and a BK 117 to one, then two, then three fantastic Sikorsky S76 helicopters. It is in these helicopters which we now proudly provide a truly Mobile Intensive Care Unit service with dedicated nursing and medical team members, robust audit systems and advanced operational policies and procedures in place.

Intensive care and flight nursing has been a wild ride at times - challenging, rewarding and tiring. They say that one hour in the air equates to two on the ground and I would agree with that estimation.

However, it is great to feel you have done a good job after you have delivered an unstable, critically ill patient in a timely manner, so they can receive appropriate interventions, continue their treatments and start their recovery journey towards good health.

N

orthland Age editor Peter Jackson has long been a keen observer of the Northland Rescue Helicopter service.

And he has good reason.

Despite the rising road toll over the last year or two, it is generally accepted that crash victims have a much greater chance of surviving now than they once did.

This has been credited to car design, policing, the claim that road engineering has generally made roads safer, but Jackson believes much of the credit goes to rescue helicopters.

“Time is absolutely critical when it comes to saving the lives of trauma victims, and much of the Far North is remote and impossible for other emergency services to reach.

“There is no question that the Northland Rescue Helicopters have saved many lives, not only of crash victims but of people who have suffered other mishaps, or whose lives have been threatened by illness.

“Kaitaia is fortunate in that it still has a hospital - most centres Kaitaia’s size don’t – but it too is a long way from Whangarei, and even further from Auckland, where more advanced, often life-saving treatment options are available.

“Without a 24/7 rescue helicopter service Far North folk would be attending more funerals, and some visitors would never see their homes again. Simple as that,” says Jackson.

It is a view shared by Northpower Public Affairs Manager Steve Macmillan, who, aside from running the annual fundraising appeal for the Northland Rescue Helicopter service, has first-hand experience of the service in action.

“Eighteen years ago the Chopper crew winched my mate out of the bush three and a half hours after a quad accident. There was no way an ambulance could access the accident site and he would have died without that assistance. It was touch and go.

“I have spoken to dozens of people saved by the chopper and our brilliant intensive care paramedics. Without them and all of those generous volunteers within our community working together we would have lost a lot more people in Tai Tokerau these past three decades.”

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The story tellers giving Northland rescue chopper a positive spin

T

hey may be from Auckland – and don’t hold that against them – but Boyd PR has played a key part in strengthening the Northland Rescue Helicopter’s connection to the community by telling the personal stories behind the rescue service.

NRH has been a client of the Auckland based PR agency for more than eight years and in that time the rescue service’s profile has grown significantly in the local community.

Managing Director, John Boyd, says the company came on board to help the charity get media traction however the role has developed to include everything from sponsorship to producing a series of children’s books.

“Part of our job is to put a spotlight on the incredible work the Northland Rescue Helicopter does, but the bigger and more important part is coming up with ways to help them raise vital funds they need to keep their choppers in the air.”

Boyd says the unique idea to create a series of Northland Rescue Helicopter storybooks came from the fact the choppers all have fun nicknames.

“We always wanted to do a series of books and following the success of the first, Juliet to the Rescue, we really had no choice but to bring Lima to life – and then Mike.”

The popularity of the books meant they developed each time; the recent two both include te reo words and phrases to reflect the influence and importance

of the Maori population in Northland.

Boyd says when they first started working with the charity in 2011, they were tasked to raise the profile of the rescue service and did that by producing a steady stream of stories, showcasing the many different sides to the organisation.

“For us it was all about showing the human faces behind the Northland Rescue Helicopter. They’re great people who do life-saving work and telling their stories helped strengthen the connection the service has to the whole Northland community.”

Mr Boyd says making this connection was important because while Northland Rescue Helicopter was well known, the life-saving work it did was not necessarily appreciated as widely as it is now.

“That connection continues to grow and is reflected in how generously the region gives back to the service during the annual appeal.”

Boyd PR was also instrumental in the development of the organisation’s sponsorship proposal, implementation of its ambassador programme, and undertaking a branding campaign to change its name to Northland Rescue Helicopter.

The PR agency also told the stories behind the launch of NRH’s state of the art simulator, the move to undertake its maintenance inhouse, and many of its most daring and important rescues.

“We only like working with good buggers and the

Northland Rescue Helicopter team are some of the best around.

“Even though our team’s based in Auckland,

we often holiday and adventure in the North and appreciate the peace of mind a reliable and trusty rescue chopper service gives.”

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Another shot at life

Rower at the helm of Northland Rescue Helicopter appeal

LYNDA TRACEY

L

ynda Tracey is a contented woman sitting in the lunchroom of her Kaitaia work place. She’s had a crack at 25 years of life that was close to being stripped away on November 17, 1988. The young Pamapuria mother woke up feeling crook, but thought she’d be okay later. Husband Arthur took their three month-old baby to his Mum’s in town and dropped their three and five year-olds off to friends until Lynda felt better. Neither thought it’d be for long. By that evening as the Kaitaia hospital car park was cleared to make way for a helicopter – headlights of the fire brigade and police revealing the makeshift landing strip for an 8pm arrival – medical staff feared for Lynda’s life.

Her symptoms of a cardiac episode simply weren’t ringing true. Something was seriously wrong and unbeknown to Lynda, she was fast slipping away. To say she was in danger territory was a big understatement. Just two days into its existence, Northland’s first and (at that time) only Electricity Rescue Helicopter was about to complete life-saving mission number one.

Skip forward a quarter of a century and Lynda is yarning to Robyn Revington – the charge nurse on duty at Kaitaia Hospital that day. They’ve become close friends in the years since but the reality of Lynda’s plight is still clear to see. Says Lynda: “I was fine one day with just a bit of a sniffle then I woke up early the next day and with every breath I had a shooting pain down near my stomach. Arthur made an appointment with the doctor at 1pm and on arrival she said, “‘oh my gosh – look at you’”. They sent me straight to hospital, put me in a wheelchair and I just

■ The first patient to use the Northland Emercency Services rescue helicopter, Lynda Tracey, second left, with paramedic Scott Mears and NEST pilots Russell Procter, left and Sam Murtagh, far right thought that’s a bit ridiculous, I hope no one sees me.

“They x-rayed me and were running around in circles.

It was quite a mystery as to what was wrong with me.“The bit that really sticks in my mind is when they came in and said they were sending me in a helicopter.

All I thought was that there was no way we could ever afford a helicopter ride! I was still conscious and there was one paramedic and myself … no equipment in the helicopter, just really the bare shell.

“On the way to Whangarei the paramedic took my blood pressure and I had to hold the torch. We landed at Kensington and went by ambulance to

Whangarei Hospital and I was in ICU for four or five days, before a similar stint in the ward and then back to Kaitaia Hospital. When I was at my worst, my veins had collapsed and they were trying to pump blood out of my foot. “With the helicopter, it was like what’s going on? It just all happens around you. We live on the flight path of the Northland Electricity Rescue Helicopter and every time it goes past I think, ‘”oh no, what has happened’”. You naturally think it’s not good – even though it is of course. But you wonder who it is. We just have to have this service. It’s essential for Northland and visitors to the region.”

F

ormer Trans-Atlantic Rowing Champion and Olympian Rob Hamill is the latest ambassador for the Northland Rescue Helicopter service.

“I am very privileged to be supporting the Northland Rescue Helicopter service because the work they do is amazing,” says Mr Hamill.

“What is particularly impressive is how they work together with St John, the Northland DHB, the emergency services throughout Northland and so many amazing volunteers. It has been said by many people before but you just never know when you might need the service and I am looking forward to taking part in some of the activities during the 2018 fundraising appeal.”

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Proud to support critical Rescue Chopper service

N

orthland’s ratepayers have contributed almost $6 million to rescue chopper operator the Northland Emergency Services Trust (NEST) during a long-term relationship stretching back roughly a decade.

Northland Regional Council (NRC) chairman Bill Shepherd says the council – and its ratepayers – has collectively seen the service as a critical piece of regional infrastructure and as a result been one of its staunchest and most consistent supporters.

“We’ve been funding the chopper since 2009 and have contributed almost $6M towards operational funding in that time. For the past several years our support has been specifically enshrined – again with the community’s backing – through our special

Emergency Services Rate.”

“This rate provides a much-needed funding pool for selected organisations (including NEST) whose primary purpose is to save lives that are in immediate or critical danger, or to respond to serious injury.”

Chairman Shepherd says ratepayers will contribute just over $12 each in Emergency Services Rates in the 12 months to 30 June 2019 with an estimated total of $1,117,992 expected to be collected region-wide over that period.

“We’ve also recently used council’s balance sheet to provide $3.75M of loan funding to help the trust purchase new helicopters using the lower interest rates we can access as local government.” (This has enabled council to pass on the benefit of those lower interest

rates at no cost to the ratepayers and yet another win/ win for the community.)

Chairman Shepherd says councils often face a delicate task trying to balance their roles and responsibilities (and reflect what the wider community wants from them) against their ratepayers’ ability to pay.

“Communities can often have some quite spirited debate about what councils – and by extension them as ratepayers – should be funding, or not be funding, as the case may be.”

However, Chairman Shepherd says the council’s support for NEST has been in an unusual category where collectively the community’s support for it has been constant, even in tough economic times.

“I think most people take a ‘big picture’ view that the service provided via NEST is simply too important to Northland and that it would be unacceptable to them not to support the trust’s work financially.”

He says as Northland’s population continues to grow (it’s currently estimated at more than 175,000) demand for the chopper service shows no signs of abating.

“I suspect there would be very few Northlanders who don’t know someone – be that family, friends or colleagues – who hasn’t benefitted directly from NEST and its work. On behalf of the Northland Regional Council’s elected representatives, staff and ratepayers I’d like to offer my sincerest congratulations on reaching this critical 30-year milestone.”

Chopper story – A flight in MY STORY HOPE HANNAH BLAKE

KAYLA MORRISON

T

K

he Northland Rescue Helicopters are a phenomenal asset to the region – one with many hard to reach rural locations, gullies, natural bush areas and huge industries such as forestry and boating, that add to the need for this service.

This service has been in operation for 30 years this year, and we know we will need it for many more.

I myself haven’t had personal experience with the helicopter, I have been fortunate enough to avoid the need for an emergency flight – but I am still affected by friends that have needed their services.

Last year, my brother passed away in a horrific, and tragic, motorbike crash north of Auckland. He had been out doing what he loved best – an afternoon gorgeous toddler could have had a much different ride on his Harley. He had all the safety gear but story. that didn’t help in a head on collision with another And these are two examples I have had a personal motorbike rider. That rider is alive today because link to. There are hundreds more stories like this of the care that they received from the Northland happening every day, of every year.

Rescue Choppers and the resulting care at the And in both of these examples, no one thought hospital he was flown to. While it was too late for their day would include an emergency flight in a my brother, I find solace in the fact that it didn’t rescue helicopter. I often hear the words “you never become a double fatality that day thanks to the know when you might need it” – never a truer word service that I have supported for the past few years. spoken. My friend didn’t go to hospital to birth her My friend has a beautiful healthy two-yearbaby with the thought she would be waving old son, who loves to get into everything him off barely hours later accompanied – whether it’s the pantry, the butter in by a specialist team. the fridge or his mum’s cosmetics.

But she did.

We have a good laugh these days So to everyone out there at his daily adventures – but that ponders supporting this SINCE 1988, OVER 3.4 there was no laughter or smiles great cause, please do. And MILLION KM TRAVELLED moments after his birth when next time you drive past the midwife noticed that – THAT’S 3.5 TRIPS TO the hangar on the edge of something wasn’t right with Kensington Park in Whangarei THE MOON AND BACK, the newborn. and notice its empty, or watch PLUS 4.5 MILLION Within a short space of time, on as a helicopter lands at a LITRES OF FUEL the doctors at Whangarei Hospital local hospital getting ready to USED! had alerted Starship and experts speed away again in haste – just take were flown in to run tests and take the a moment to think of what life-saving baby back to the specialist cardiac unit for or life-altering story is unfolding at that exact children in preparation for his first of two surgeries. moment.

At one week old, he had open heart surgery. A Donate. And help save a life. Help to create a frightening time for any parent. Had he not been positive story from what could be a tragic or lifeflown to specialist care in Auckland, this crazy defining situation.

DID YOU KNOW...

FAR NORTH

ayla Morrison was freaking out, but trying not to show it.

She had woken up in pain and it was getting worse. Her neck was on fire and achy, and to move her shoulders or head made it even worse.

As much as she tried to hide how serious it was, her husband knew better and got her into the car, headed for the local doctor’s clinic in Wellsford.

It wasn’t long before the doctor shared their concerns. With the level of pain she was in, combined with the fact that it was still increasing, the doctor knew to call for help. Fearing it was potentially fatal bacterial meningitis, time was something they didn’t have a lot of.

The ambulance crew arrived, took one look at Kayla and voiced their concerns, she said.

“They said it was much better for me to go in the rescue helicopter as I needed urgent attention, and a bumpy ride to Whangarei in an ambulance would have been too much to bear,” she says.

What felt like moments later, 26-year-old Kayla was being loaded into one of the Northland Rescue Choppers and preparing for a fast flight to Whangarei where urgent treatment and tests awaited her.

On arrival, in the emergency department, the handover was smooth and quick, she says.

“The paramedic on board was amazing – they came to check that I was settled in and ok, as I didn’t have anyone to wait with me. That was really lovely,” she said.

Tests showed the pain was not caused by the potentiallydeadly meningitis, and instead her searing nerve pain was diagnosed as occipital neuralgia, an extreme nerve pain that radiates up the neck, to the back of the head and behind the ears.

Six months of treatments

followed to find the right one that could help Kayla live with this diagnosis ongoing.

To this day, Kayla is so thankful for her flight to Whangarei Hospital – at the time fearing for what a diagnosis may have been.

“That flight just offered me peace of mind. Had my life been at risk, the speed and efficiency that the service offers would have really helped. As it was, in the pain I was in, a long ride on the road in an ambulance would have been so grueling,” she says.

“It made a world of difference to me as a mum, knowing I was in safe hands and getting treatment as quickly as possible. The same goes for anyone who uses the service – it is there to help.”

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11

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‘Made in NZ, saving lives around the world’

The GOLDEN HOUR saves Northland woman

DID YOU KNOW...

14,000 HOURS OF SIKORSKY S76 FLIGHT TIME REPRESENTS 42,000 TAKE OFFS AND LANDINGS

ANNE McNAMARA

A

routine knee replacement operation turned underwent extensive tests including a CT scan which into a scary ordeal for 71-year-old Anne showed a subdural bleed. The risk of death was so McNamara who ended up gravely ill and severe that she was immediately flown to Auckland in desperate need of an emergency flight from the Hospital accompanied by a doctor and nurse from Northland Rescue Choppers in a bid to save her life.

Whangarei, and on arrival, was rushed immediately Following her successful into surgery. knee replacement operation, “When I woke up, I looked Anne got up to freshen up around and saw some family All of our family for her departure home and then two surgeons came in. donate to the and remembers it all went One turned to me and said ‘we downhill from there. are the ones who saved your choppers. We need “I was standing in my life’. It isn’t often you hear that.” this service – it ensuite and had just finished “If it wasn’t for that cleaning my teeth when I fell helicopter ride and the speed saves lives and it over backwards and off my in which it could get me to saved mine. crutches. Luckily where I fell Auckland…” she trails off. “It was next to the call bell for the is quite frightening really. That nurses, so I rung that and all I remember is getting a helicopter ride saved my life.” very violent headache across my forehead,” she says.

Recovery wise, everything has been going fine.

“I remember the nurses coming to help me, and “I was brought home from Auckland in an my sister and friend were there as they had been ambulance and that was one long ride. It just shows coming to collect me, but I was confused when they how much time the choppers save.” came, and that is the last I remember. It all went Anne says she encourages people to donate to black from there.” the helicopters, and take a moment to realise how Rushed to Whangarei Hospital via ambulance, important this service is in Northland.

Anne was placed into an induced coma and

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A LIFE SAVED in Kaipara

Thank You NORTHLAND

T

JENNY FINLAYSON

D

argaville resident Jenny Finlayson had a “Apparently my organs were starting to shut black spot in her memory for a few weeks down. I had sepsis and I was in a bad way. The last year. She can’t remember how or why Northland Rescue helicopter was called to fly me to she woke up in hospital, watching and listening Whangarei Hospital and I was put into an induced intently as people asked her what her name was and coma,” she says. to identify where she was.

Jenny believes the quick actions by the doctors What she didn’t know at the time, was that she and the speed in which the helicopter arrived and was waking up from a coma, in the intensive care flew her to Whangarei Hospital saved her life. unit at Whangarei Hospital, “On arrival at Whangarei weeks after falling ill with what Hospital, I was admitted to the ICU Those she thought was ‘just the flu’. where I was for three weeks. I woke The now 71-year-old recalls up after five days and had no idea helicopters feeling unwell and heading where I was, or what had happened. really do save to the doctors, where was I thought I might have been in a car prescribed rest for pneumonia crash until they told me the details. lives, I am living and a few days off work.

“I found out afterwards that even proof of that. I She did as she was told the nurses who had worked on me and went home to rest, only that night in Dargaville Hospital urge people to to start feeling worse as time were unsure of whether I would support them. went by. make it. It was that close.

Home alone and resting is “That helicopter saved my life, the last memory she has of her it truly did. I was so close to death ordeal. With family finding and the speed of that flight played a her quite unwell on their arrival at home, she was major part in me being here today.” rushed to Dargaville Hospital by her husband and Jenny says the helicopters are an essential service daughter - with the doctors at the hospital realising that is so heavily relied upon across the reaches of swiftly that she was in grave danger.

Northland.

TAKE TIME OUT AND VISIT

his year has been a particularly busy one for NEST, as we celebrate 30 years of operations in Northland.

In addition to flying a record number of rescue missions, we have successfully completed the purchase/lease of two new helicopters, received the supreme award at the Westpac Business Excellence Awards, and we have been selected as the preferred tenderer for the NASO contract to provide air ambulance services in the northern region.

Like most other ambulance operators, NEST receives only partial funding from central Government which covers approx. 75% of our total operating costs. The balance is covered by the community through sponsorship and donations.

We are extremely grateful for this support and in particular our thanks go to our key sponsors Northland Regional Council, Northpower, Top Energy, and the Oxford Trust.

Without the support of our sponsors and the Northland public, we would simply be unable to provide the service as it exists today.

On behalf of the board, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated staff, paramedics, hospital staff, and other emergency workers who work tirelessly in support of the Northland Rescue Helicopter.

Most people in Northland have a loved one or someone they care about, that has been flown in the rescue helicopter. In many cases this flight has made a significant difference to the lives of both the patient and their loved ones. And that’s what we are here for.

DID YOU KNOW...

IN THE SIKORSKY S76S, 14,000 HOURS OF FLIGHT TIME RECORDED – THAT’S 16 MONTHS IN THE AIR! (SO IF WE TOOK OFF TODAY, WE’D LAND IN EARLY 2020!)

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Speed the saviour for Ahipara man CLIFF COLQUHOUN

C

liff Colquhoun would be facing a very arduous rehabilitation if it wasn’t for Northland DHB’s Kaitaia-based emergency staff and a mercy dash tal just a few from Kaitaia to Auckland hospital months ago.

The 66 year-old awoke on July ly 9 with pains in his chest which travelled to his back but brushed the discomfort off as indigestion or heart burn.

Cliff ’s wife Kathy Hancock wasn’t so sure.

“Kathy is a Principal and is regularly doing first aid updates, so she decided to drive me to Kaitaia Hospital to save time ive waiting for an ambulance to drive to our place at Ahipara,” says Cliff. iff.

“I was a put in the hands of a really good nurse - Robbie Williams – and he was a rock star alright. There was no Doctor at A & E at the time so he got straight on the phone to one to make sure he was doing everything right with monitoring me and running tests.

“The Doctor was sure I was having a heart attack and once he’d finished changing the tyre of an elderly motorist on his way to the hospital, because he was concerned the motorist might have a heart attack if left to do it alone - he was at my side and was right on the button with all the right decisions.

“My first round of blood tests didn’t show any problems and I was starting to feel better but more tests

through the day showed an increase in activity around the heart.”

The following day the call was made to fly Cliff to Auckland Hospital for urgent surgery.

He left Kaitaia at 12pm, was at Auckland K Hospital at 12.55pm and was ready su for surgery 20 minutes later. It was unbelievable how fast everything unb happened, he says. hap “In a critical situation you can see how important time is to you.

It’s really not possible to get to Auckland quicker. It would have possibly taken about the same time tim to travel across Auckland.”

Four stents later (three in one artery alone), the two hour-long procedure proced was complete and Cliff felt back to normal. n “I was awakened and felt like I was aw an observer rather than having an operation on my heart as the process is done so smoothly. I am a fit, healthy guy so I am on a mission to reduce my medication and reduce the plaque in my arteries.

“My message to everyone is to get in and support the Northland Chopper Service because it needs our support and our donations to save that next lucky person,” say Cliff.

Cliff believes it was the speed at which he was transported from Whangarei to Auckland Hospital in the Northland Rescue Chopper that was the different between life and death.

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Northpower, Top Energy and Northland Regional Council congratulate all involved in the Northland Rescue Helicopter Service for 30 years of dedication to helping our community.

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