SouthCare

The sole aircraft – a Bell 412 – and its crew perform three types of mission from a base on the Monaro Highway to the south of Canberra.

In primary missions, trained rapid response medical crews fly directly to the scene of an accident. Patients receive stabilising treatment for flight and are then transported to major hospitals, the major trauma centre for the region being The Canberra Hospital. In primary missions it is about the fastest delivery of the highest standard of pre-hospital medical care, often in remote areas, in what the service calls ‘the golden hour’ when patients need the highest level of attention.

Secondary missions involve the transport of patients needing urgent specialised services from regional hospitals to other major hospitals. In many cases this is a transfer to Canberra, or Sydney in the case of spinal injuries, burns and neurological conditions.

Nearly 40 per cent of SouthCare’s operations are conducted as primary missions, while 59 per cent are secondary. More than half of all missions are conducted in southern NSW and the high country, the rest being uniformly spread across the remainder of the expansive territory the service covers.

Each medical mission is crewed with an intensive care paramedic from the ACT Ambulance Service and a highly skilled doctor from the Capital Region Retrieval Service of The Canberra Hospital.

The helicopter also conducts non-medical missions: search and rescue (SAR) over land and sea, the latter in cooperation with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority when personal locator beacons are activated, and bushfire support in which the helicopter uses its considerable sling weight capacity to assist ground firefighting crew with water drops. The service is also called on for air evacuation and relief efforts, such as during the Riverina floods in 2012 when the SouthCare helicopter evacuated patients from hospitals and rural areas.
On average non-medical operations comprise only two per cent of all missions completed.

The flight crew team comprises four full-time pilots and one part-time. Supporting air operations are four full-time aircrewmen responsible for operating the winch in rescue situations and assisting the pilot with navigation and communications. He is also responsible for the safety of any passengers on board the aircraft and securing the aircraft and equipment.

CHC Australia provides the pilots & aircrewmen under contract to the Snowy Hydro SouthCare service. Many of the aircrew have had experience through the Defence Force and other EMS helicopter services around Australia.

On the ground the Bell 412 is maintained by a senior base engineer who, having been with SouthCare since its inception in 1998, performs routine 25-hourly maintenance and controls manuals, spares and systems.

On average, the Snowy Hydro SouthCare team performs two missions a day. It’s not unusual for the crew to perform back-to-back missions. In 2011-2012 the service experienced a 20 per cent increase in missions compared to the previous year and this is expected increase again this financial year.

However, on occasion the crew’s endurance gets pushed well beyond that average. In June 2011 the helicopter and crew performed five missions in 24 hours starting at 0300 with a call to Pambula hospital on the far south coast and finishing at 2230 that evening with a patient transfer from Young in the central west of the state to Canberra. It was the busiest day since 2006.

“The Snowy Hydro SouthCare helicopter has assisted many more people than its 5,000 missions.”

Comment from chief pilot on variety of missions ………….

The 412 – VH-NSC – is highly customised, featuring a range of equipment and technology to suit the varied conditions the aircraft operates in, making it the optimal rescue vehicle.

The aircraft is configured for two patients, with medical equipment carried aboard by responding medical teams augmenting those fitted permanently in the aircraft.

To assist in search and rescue missions, the aircraft is fitted with Forward Looking Infrared sensors (FLIR). The nose-mounted camera can be turned in any direction and can be used as a conventional film camera. A 30-million-candlepower Nitesun spotlight is also mounted under the nose of the aircraft.

Long-range fuel tanks are fitted to the 412 around the lower fuselage. The tanks, with a total capacity of 1,400l allows missions of up to 3.5 hours’ endurance at a fuel flow rate of 400l/hr at 120kts.

Fitted to the bottom of the aircraft are ‘bear paws’ – large flat panels attached to the helicopter’s skids – to prevent the 5,390kg helicopter from sinking into soft ground such as snow or sand.

As an added safety feature, although flight crews are in communication with local officials to avoid any dangers that may be located at a mission site, wire cutters are fitted on the top and bottom of the helicopter to cut any undetected powerlines or cables that may be encountered.

Another critical feature for retrieval is the 90-metre winching cable with a 1,497kg breaking strain, located on the pilot’s side of the helicopter.

Finally, during attendance at fires, a bambi bucket capable of holding up to 1,000 litres of water can be attached to the bottom of the aircraft.

Flying the Bell 412 is ………………. (pilot comments on flying the 412, its suitability and manoeuverbility for such a big machine)
Funding

To date, the Snowy Hydro SouthCare helicopter has assisted many more people than its 5,000 missions, and has given yet more people confidence that such a service is available should it ever be needed.

The annual cost of operating the service is approximately $6 million. Contributions to the costs are met by corporate and community funding through donations and sponsorship, with the balance being provided by the ACT and NSW governments.

In terms of corporate structure, the Snowy Hydro SouthCare operation is in fact the trading entity of the SouthCare Helicopter Fund, a limited company that exists solely to fund the life-saving efforts of the aeromedical and rescue service.

During the 2011/12 financial year, the fund generated donations and sponsorships to the value of $1.3 million. Primary among those contributors was naming-rights sponsor Snowy Hydro Ltd – Australia’s third largest electricity generator – which has contributed some $500,000 over five years, part of a 12-year association between the parties.

Additional financial support comes from many and varied sources including corporate and private sponsors, community and service clubs, donors, payroll deductees, volunteers, the media and affiliated organisations.

Current ‘logo sponsors’, who contribute between $……. and $…… annually, include Air Services Australia, Alacrity Technologies, Bendigo Bank, Canberra Milk, Canberra FM, Canberra times, Capital Chemist, John James Memorial Foundation, the Canberra Good Guys, Veolia Mulwaree trust and regional television network Win TV.

While those in need are simply grateful to see the green, blue and white SouthCare helicopter, raising and maintaining the profile of the SouthCare service is a full-time job throughout the area of coverage.

Communications manager Kate van Haalen said: “For many regional residents just understanding who is the local rescue helicopter service that will come to you in your time of need has been the source of much confusion. People recognise our colours as they see the helicopter flying in and out of their towns, but aren’t always aware that Snowy Hydro SouthCare is the primary service for their community.

“Gradually we are getting involved in more and more regional NSW events and it has been a very rewarding experience meeting ex patients and supporters throughout the region,” van Haalen added.

Despite the recent challenging economic climate, SouthCare has not experienced a downturn or sensitivity to continued sponsorship. In fact, between 2011 and 2012 the service received increased contributions from donations. It is testament to the value the community places in this lifeline service.

While corporate and community support is always forthcoming, ongoing government contributions need to be secure for SouthCare to continue its life-saving work.

The NSW government is currently undertaking a review of emergency helicopter services as it seeks to rein in increasing costs. Proposed measures include a reduction in the number of helicopters from 15 to 12 and to create ‘super bases’ in western Sydney and potentially one in the ACT while reducing the overall number of operational bases currently in place.

Possible further measures being considered are a reduction in the number of aeromedical regions from five to two, closure of the Wollongong base and relocating it to a new base at Parramatta, and increasing the hours of operation and staffing levels at Newcastle, Tamworth and Orange.

“The NSW government will need to source an additional $7.3 million a year by 2020 to sustain aeromedical services.”

The government measures, which have already sensitised emergency helicopter operators following the announcement in November that long-serving Telstra Child Flight would be replaced by CareFlight for newborn and paediatric emergency transport services, stem from a report by Ernst & Young commissioned by the NSW health department to review emergency helicopter services in the state.

In all, the report says the changes stand to deliver approximately $6.7 million in annual savings, while noting the government will need to source an additional $7.3 million a year by 2020 to sustain aeromedical services.

In early January, reports surfaced in local media that Snowy Hydro SouthCare could lose its existing contract with the state as part of the government review, but the service has not been advised of changes so far.

Indeed the creation of a ‘super base’ in the ACT, which remains a possibility, could strengthen SouthCare’s role in the region where it already covers about two-thirds of all missions in the southern and Murrumbidgee districts of NSW.

Snowy Hydro SouthCare’s CEO Owen Finegan said: “Accidents and illness don’t discriminate. We really are a service for all people from all walks of life. That fact makes us relevant to everybody in the community. Nobody wants to have to use us but when that dark hour comes and we are needed, we are there to serve and provide care, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
Testament to the efforts of the team is the many family members who return to the helicopter base in Canberra to express their appreciation for the service SouthCare has provided.

Like all other emergency helicopter operators, that team hopes it can continue the work that has literally saved thousands of lives.