CareFlight finds a place to call home

24 June 2009

The NSW Government has helped deliver CareFlight with a brand new purpose built headquarters through a $2.2 million grant.

Mr Rees said CareFlight has served the community since 1986 and plays an important role in saving and transporting seriously injured people, especially those in road crashes.

“CareFlight already provides a remarkable service and these funds will allow them to focus on the important job of saving lives,” Mr Rees said.

“They are currently operating from demountables next to a helicopter landing pad at the back of Westmead Hospital.

“This grant provides a new facility that allows staff and volunteers to professionally run a vital service without the noise and disruption of helicopters landing and taking off on their doorstep.

“The new site adjacent to Westmead Hospital delivers a state-of-the-art base in the centre of Sydney that is close to their Sydney operations base and the hospital.

“This new site will improve operations and the safety of staff while allowing for CareFlight’s future growth.”

It is anticipated CareFlight will be operating from the new premises by September.

CareFlight is a not-for-profit emergency medical retrieval service that supports the work of the Ambulance Service by being able to quickly get expert medical treatment to accident victims then continue the treatment as they are taken to a hospital.

Mr Rees said this support comes on top of a joint major clinical trial to determine if early action by a trauma physician at an accident scene can improve outcomes for head injury patients.

“Through this trial specialist doctors and paramedics are flown to sites where people have sustained a severe head injury to commence immediate treatment which it’s hoped will make a critical difference to recovery and rehabilitation,” Mr Rees said.

CareFlight chairman Dr Andrew Refshauge said the support of the NSW Government is deeply appreciated.

“Having a new headquarters building, very close to our helicopter operations base at Westmead, will improve the efficiency of the service which CareFlight is proud to deliver to the community,” he said.