Chopper not overused

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter is not being overused or used unnecessarily in the Wairarapa, say the District Health Board and Life Flight Trust, after an incident at Castlepoint saw the matter raised in a meeting of the cash-strapped DHB.

Last month, the DHB recorded a deficit of $3.54 million for the year ending June 30, with a further $1 million deficit forecast for the next 12 months. DHB chief executive Tracey Adamson said then that service cuts couldn't be ruled out.

On Saturday, July 11, the rescue helicopter was called to transport a Pahiatua boy from Castlepoint after he fell and broke his collarbone. It is understood an off-duty ambulance officer at the scene called emergency services, which sent the helicopter instead of a road ambulance.

On arrival of the helicopter, the Wellington Free Ambulance paramedic on board assessed the patient and the decision was made to transport they boy to Wairarapa Hospital Emergency Department by helicopter.

Questions were apparently raised about the need for the rescue helicopter in this case, where the boy's life was not threatened, and the comments extended to whether the DHB was over-using helicopter transport.

The DHB is reviewing its entire budget, including transportation, says spokeswoman Jill Stringer.

The DHB's overall transport strategy and policy is also under review, but there will be no change to criteria for access to the rescue helicopter.

The DHB wholly owns the Wairarapa ground ambulance service. Life Flight Trust owns and operates the Wellington region's only rescue helicopter, with donated funding and payments from ambulance services, police and district health boards. The service also needs community funding of about $2500 per mission for both the helicopter and its fixed-wing air ambulance out of Auckland.

Rescue helicopter callouts average one a day, says Dave Greenberg, a helicopter crewman and spokesman. About half of them are patient transfers between hospitals, usually for critical care not available.

Mr Greenberg says the helicopter is not overused, and Life Flight often finds that the chopper should be used when an ordinary ambulance is instead.

The decision on whether to send the rescue helicopter to accidents and emergencies is made by the Wellington Free Ambulance communications centre, in contact with the initial emergency caller or authorities on the scene, or doctors assessing the situation from a hospital.