The Land Rover LifeFlight Special Mission helicopter crew has spent another full day winching people from a rooftop and rescuing others stranded by flood water, amid the ongoing Northern New South Wales flood emergency.
The specially trained rescue crew came to the aid of at least 10 people, in back to back missions, tasked by the NSW State Emergency Service (NSW SES), as part of the multi-agency response.
The first emergency mission was to rescue a couple who were forced onto their roof, where they remained overnight, after their home became inundated, just south of Coraki.
The crew located the pair early this morning and the LifeFlight Paramedic was carefully winched down onto the roof of the house, where he helped the stranded couple into the helicopter’s rescue basket.
They were then hoisted up into the aircraft, before being flown to safety.
As soon as that mission was complete, the helicopter crew was then called on for it’s unique aeromedical response capabilities – as a rescue aircraft which includes a highly skilled Flight Paramedic as part of its crew – to conduct welfare checks and medical transfers for residents isolated from medical help by floodwater.
The multiple missions involved administering pre-hospital medical care to patients suffering potentially life-threatening conditions, ranging from chest pains to asthma attacks, and airlifting patients from their homes, to nearby hospitals for a higher level of care.
The rescue crew’s missions saw them cover territory from Mullumbimby to Woodburn and further west to Kyogle.
The helicopter is usually based in Queensland, but is currently operating out of Ballina, after it was tasked by the New South Wales State Emergency Service (NSW SES), to support their response to the flooding emergency.
Anticipating the requirement, NSW SES strategically prepositioned the chopper on Friday, ready for quick response.
Every detail of the Land Rover LifeFlight Special Mission helicopter is specifically designed for emergency response deployment.
The aircraft is part of LifeFlight Australia’s commercial operation, which supports the work of the community helicopter fleet, through our profit-for-purpose model.
In the 2021 Calendar Year, RACQ LifeFlight Rescue’s community helicopters, Air Ambulance jets, Critical Care Doctors, Flight Nurses and Flight Paramedics came to the aid of 6,846 people.
