Plea from Chopper Crews

THE CEO of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service has made a plea to the public to drive safely and take care with holiday activities this weekend after one of the busiest call out periods in the service’s history.

Richard Jones OAM, said the service was called out 24 times in four days during the Easter long weekend period and another eight times since Tuesday.

“That was among the busiest weekends on record for our Service,” said Mr Jones.

“Our helicopter crews responded around the clock to emergency calls throughout Northern NSW and were kept busy at each of our three bases in Belmont, Tamworth and Lismore,” he said.

“With this recent run of good weather and the Easter holiday period, so many people are out enjoying the great outdoors,” he said.

“This means more people are on the roads, in the ocean, on farms and enjoying all kinds of recreational activities.

“Our role in the emergency services chain is to fly critical care medical teams direct to patients as fast and safe as possible, as well as providing urgent transport back to hospitals,” he said.

“We’re just one link in the chain of emergency services but after such a busy period for all in the chain, we’re urging our community to stay safe,” Richard Jones said.

The call outs included emergency responses to scenes, inter-hospital transfers and search at rescue missions on land and sea.