Life Flight Saving More Lives Thanks to $1 Million Grant from NZCT.

Life Flight, bolstered by a substantial $1 million grant from New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT), is extending a lifeline to those in need of time-critical medical care across Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Northland, Gisborne, Manawatū-Whanganui and beyond by adding a fourth air ambulance plane to its fleet which will be permanently based at Hamilton Airport.

Life Flight, which operates the Wellington-based Westpac Rescue Helicopter and a growing fleet of air ambulances nationwide, is expanding its critical aeromedical services in the central North Island. The move, made possible by a substantial $1 million grant from New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT), marks a significant milestone in Life Flight’s mission to provide life-saving care in the air to New Zealanders in need. Life Flight, a non-profit organisation, has been a cornerstone in providing urgent aeromedical care for patients around the country for almost 50 years.

With the support of NZCT, and other generous funders including Pub Charity, Lions clubs, and Rotary clubs, Life Flight is growing its critical air ambulance services to respond to an increased need from the community for its life-saving services. With this grant, Life Flight is not just adding an additional aircraft to its fleet but extending a lifeline to those in need of time-critical medical care across Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Northland, Gisborne and Manawatū-Whanganui.

“The air ambulance, based at Hamilton Airport, will provide faster response times and improved accessibility to emergency medical care for local and rural communities,” says Life Flight Chief Executive, Mark Johnston. Hamilton-based fixed-wing aeromedical services are provided on behalf of Waikato Hospital, following the retirement of Philips Search and Rescue Trust’s ageing fixed-wing aircraft late last year.

Johnston emphasises Life Flight’s dedication to continuous improvement and innovation, which underpins its mission to provide exceptional care in the air across the country.

Life Flight began upgrading and expanding its fleet of air ambulance planes a couple of years ago as demand for our aeromedical services continued to grow, by up to 20 per cent year-on-year. Thanks to NZCT’s fabulous support, more than 5,000 patients from the central North Island will be flown to critical care over the next decade.

-Mark Johnston, Life Flight Chief Executive

The additional aircraft will help address the pressing need for modernisation within New Zealand’s air ambulance service, ensuring more Kiwis have reliable access to life-saving aeromedical transport when every minute counts. The service will assist provincial and rural patients requiring urgent transfer to main centres for specialist treatment and care.

Life Flight’s dedicated air ambulance fleet of King Air B200C aircraft is well suited to New Zealand’s conditions, allowing access to more airfields across the country as these aircraft are also capable of landing on smaller dirt and grass airstrips.

“These flying intensive care units (ICU) can provide true ICU and neonatal ICU capability,” says Johnston.

All of our aircraft also feature extra-wide cargo doors and automatic patient loading devices (PLDs) capable of safely handling patient and equipment loads of up to 300kgs, enabling us to provide more equitable access to health services, particularly for rural communities.

The $1 million grant from NZCT takes their support of Life Flight to more than $2 million in the last 10 years and is the largest single grant in Life Flight’s history. It will finance a significant portion of this fourth air ambulance plane, with the remainder covered by fundraising from Life Flight’s community of donors, partners and sponsors.

“NZCT is a proud community partner of Life Flight’s mission to provide critical air ambulance services to Kiwis in need” says Mike Knell, NZCT Chief Executive. “We’re absolutely thrilled to be able to support this expansion of world-class aeromedical services across Central New Zealand with a dedicated Life Flight air ambulance plane based in Hamilton.”

Original article published by Life Flight - https://www.lifeflight.org.nz/2024/08/07/life-flight-saving-more-lives-in-the-central-north-island-thanks-to-1-million-grant-from-nzct/