IT HAS been flying high at home in New England skies for the last 17 years and on Monday the newly upgraded NSW Ambulance and Westpac Rescue Helicopter base was unveiled in a ceremony to remember.
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With new living quarters, extra training and engineering facilities added to its Tamworth Airport Base, industry leaders joined forces to celebrate the achievements of the air services and the future ahead.
Helicopter base station manager Dave Davies has notched up 15 years with the service and was proud to see the progress made.
“I’ve seen this start off when we had the 407 (helicopter) in borrowed facilities and now we’ve come this which is the pinnacle of what we could reach and we’re very happy with it,” he said.
“It suits the Hunter New England North West so well and the service we can provide now for the outlying areas is unbelievable.15 years ago we were just fledglings, we did a good service but it was limited and now we are unlimited.
“Having 24-hour service and with doctors and paramedics on the base all the time there’s nothing we can’t achieve.”
NSW Ambulance CEO, Commissioner Dominic Morgan said the upgrades would mean a higher standard of care.
“Ensuring the communities within NSW will have access to high quality, emergency clinical care no matter how remote or regional their locations is a key priority for our organisation,” he said.
“It (the base) is the enabler of a fast and more compatible helicopter fleet, a place of training and further education, for collaboration, a launchpad for critical response to patients.
“Bricks and mortar puts this firmly in the heart of local communities - those that rely on us to be there when they need us the most.”
The upgrade is part of a $151million investment in aeromedical services across the the state.
Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service CEO Richard Jones said the upgraded facilities along with the new Augusta Westland 139 helicopter,that completed its first mission in May, made for a prosperous future for the service in the area.
“We are delighted that our partnership with NSW Ambulance and NSW Health continues to go from strength to strength,” he said.
Standing in for NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard, Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson said the upgraded base was part of the “single biggest NSW Government investment in aeromedical services in the state’s history.”
“This significant investment in the Tamworth base delivered a state-of-the-art asset for our community,” he said.
“We are delighted to deliver a facility that will now maximise workflow for this team, providing a safe and functional hangar for our aircraft and engineers.”
