Shadow Emergency Services Minister Martin Aldridge questions rejected Geraldton rescue helicopter plan

Shadow emergency services minister Martin Aldridge took the opportunity on the first week of State Parliament’s return to ask the Government why a plan for a rescue helicopter to be based in Geraldton was rejected. Mr Aldridge raised the matter last Wednesday after the lack of a rescue helicopter north of Perth became a subject of focus last month. According to a hearing in February 2022 from the Aeromedical Services Inquiry, a proposal by regional medical charity CareFlight to place helicopters in Geraldton and Kalgoorlie was rejected by the Department of Finance. According to Matthew O’Shea, a member of CareFlight’s management team, the helicopter program would have been funded by the group’s charitable activities. In a response presented at the hearing, the Department of Finance stated the proposed service was already covered by an existing government process, and the plan did “not align with WA Country Health Service’s current strategy for centralised acute patient transfer services”. Leader of the House Sue Ellery responded on Thursday, by saying the decision-making process on market-led proposals could not be discussed for confidentiality reasons. Mr Aldridge said rescue helicopters were a life-saving service which should be more available in the Mid West. “The State Government has the means to support the expansion beyond Perth and Bunbury with a massive Budget surplus and I would encourage them to do so,” he said. “Whilst it is disappointing that the State Government has not supported the proposal by Careflight Australia to establish a Geraldton and Kalgoorlie-based rescue helicopter emergency medical service, it is a promising sign that an organisation with almost forty years of experience in this field sees merit in such an initiative.” The issue returned to the spotlight after an incident on January 13 in which it took almost six hours for a helicopter from Jandakot to airlift a sick passenger off the cruise ship AIDAmar, 140km off the Geraldton coast. Mr Aldridge also asked for an update on the status of the Aeromedical Services Inquiry, which was established to investigate how aeromedical transport could be improved in WA. The inquiry began in August 2021 and was scheduled to finish in June 2022, but a final report has not been released. Ms Ellery said the report was currently under consideration by the Government and would be presented to Parliament when practical. CareFlight said it was unable to comment on the proposal.