Story written, images taken, by ANDREW KACIMAIWAI
THE Queensland Government is to give helicopter medical service operator LifeFlight $586m over 10 years to upgrade and expand its services.
The funding was allocated under the new state budget.
The money will be used to upgrade equipment such as a modern power-stretcher loading system compatible with Queensland Ambulance Service stretchers and the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
LifeFlight will also be able to upgrade aging helicopters, create centralised maintenance facilities and invest in aeromedical infrastructure in regional Queensland.
The 2023-24 Budget will also provide $18.6 million for a new three-bay hangar at Sunshine Coast Airport to house two helicopters for the Sunshine Coast and a back-up helicopter for Bundaberg.
LifeFlight operates from bases in Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Roma, Bundaberg, and Mt Isa. They are Queensland’s largest community helicopter rescue service in a state where 51 per cent of residents live in regional, remote or rural communities.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the new funding brings government’s total support for LifeFlight to almost $1 billion over 10 years.
“It will ensure Queenslanders in rural, regional, and remote parts of the state continue to have on-going emergency medical helicopter services – from Mt Isa to the Cape, Kirra to Cunnamulla,” she said.
Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment Cameron Dick said LifeFlight provided “a blanket” of emergency aeromedical care for the state.
“Rural, regional and remote communities rely on LifeFlight to bring the hospital to them in their hour of need,” he said.
“Our government has given certainty to this important organisation by committing long-term sustainable funding to LifeFlight’s operations and investing in their future development.”
Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Services Shannon Fentiman says Queensland is the most decentralised state in the country hence the need for access to “vital” aeromedical services and the funding.
“Not only will this funding ensure LifeFlight can continue to airlift some of the sickest and most vulnerable patients in their hour of need but it will also mean a new built for purpose hangar can be constructed at the Sunshine Coast airport.”
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LifeFlight CEO Ashley van de Velde said: ““For more than 40 years, LifeFlight Australia has been Queensland’s largest community helicopter rescue service delivering emergency response, critical medical care and interhospital airlifts to seriously ill and injured people.
“Today’s announcement ensures that we can continue to provide this vital rescue service to the people of Queensland with the assurance that emergency medical care is available 24/7, 365 days a year, no matter where you live.”
The announcement follows on from last year’s Budget where the State Government provided $334 million for a 10-year funding deal with the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
It also provided $60.2 million to the Brisbane Airport Corporation’s Regional Aeromedical hub for LifeFlight and the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Tasman Aircraft 