Air Ambulance & Rescue Services In 1984, John Funnell was instrumental in a search involving a plane crash that carried management personnel of Philips NZ Ltd near the Desert Road. As a legacy to mark the loss of its Managing Director and Company Promotions Officer who tragically died in the accident, Philips NZ Ltd donated funds to help establish a Trust that would assist in operating a rescue helicopter in the Taupo region. The Trust was named the Philips Search & Rescue Trust in that memory. AIRCRAFT Since 1985, the Trust has grown from its first helicopter based in Taupo and now operates and manages five operations, based in Hamilton, Palmerston North, Taupo, Rotorua and Tauranga. Hamilton
: Bell 222B Helicopter, : Westpac Waikato Air Ambulance : MU2 Aeroplane PROVIDING RAPID RESPONSE EXPERT MEDICAL CARE The Philips Search & Rescue Trust provides inter-hospital transport of critically ill or injured patients for specialist medical care, that has included motor vehicle accidents, aviation accidents, search & rescue, farm accidents and medical conditions such as asthma, cardiac arrest, etc. The rescue helicopter service is crewed by St John Ambulance paramedics, hospital doctors and flight nurses. Air travel drastically reduces travel time to accident scenes, thus helping to provide rapid response expert medical care. Time saved in air travel saves lives and reduces the chances of long term disabilities. Less time in transport also means medical personnel are back at the base sooner for any emergencies that may occur. For more information on the air rescue service log onto: www.rescue.org.nz |
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