Rescue flights' wings clipped

Patients' lives will be put at risk by red tape stopping rescue helicopters from landing at Waikato Hospital, according to a former director of the hospital's intensive care unit.

A safety crackdown is likely to mean rescue helicopters can't take patients directly to Waikato Hospital – except in emergencies.

Instead they will be landed blocks away with patients driven the final leg of their journey in an ambulance.

But Jack Havill, a district health board member who ran the intensive care unit for 27 years, described the proposed change as "totally unacceptable".

He said he had a lot to do with transporting patients in the past.

"These patients are usually very sick (on respirators and such) and are being transported from secondary hospitals to here, quite often to intensive care. What has been suggested will involve double transferring instead of just coming straight to Waikato as the patient will have to be put into an ambulance; this will cause longer delays and put the patient at more risk."

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) requires all helicopters to either have twin engines or meet special conditions in order to approach, hover and take off over built up areas near a helipad.

That means single engine rescue helicopters from Tauranga, Rotorua, Taupo and Taranaki that now land at Waikato Hospital would instead have to land at a "safe site" that meets regulations.

The Waikato Times understands that one landing site option is a vacant block of land behind the Gallagher building on Kahikatea Dr.

Philips Search and Rescue Trust Hamilton operations manager Grant Bremner, who also manages the Westpac Waikato air ambulance, confirmed the Kahikatea Dr site was "in the mix" but said a number of appropriate locations were still being considered.

Despite its two engines, Hamilton's 25-year-old Westpac Rescue Helicopter could fall foul of the rules when fully loaded as it may not be able to land safely on one engine.

CAA communications manager Bill Sommer said letters were sent to all DHBs earlier this year outlining the need to comply with aviation rules.

Health Waikato chief operating officer Jan Adams said the crackdown would have an "operational impact" on services. Thames and Waikato were the hospitals most affected.

Waikato District Health Board members discussed the impact at its monthly meeting last week with many holding concerns about patient safety.

DHB chief executive Craig Climo said the CAA's previous practice was that responsibility lay with the pilot on whether they felt safe to land in a particular place.

"But we live in a world where thresholds are continually increasing and this is the case for the CAA and their rules."

The flight policy can be broken in the event of an emergency.

Mr Bremner said other hospitals such as Thames would be affected as the hospital was near hills meaning helicopters had to fly over houses to the helipad.

"In that case we would need to land at the playing fields ... (and) an ambulance would transfer the patient to hospital," he said.

Mr Sommer said audits on compliance would begin in September.

- © Fairfax NZ News