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12 | iNarrabri Magazine
Feature
Interview by Craig Jollow
How long has the Narrabri Branch of the
Rescue Helicopter Service been in operation
and how many members do you have?
The Narrabri Branch has been operating for
fourteen years. The service initially kicked off
forty years ago down in Newcastle. Then they
saw a need for the sevice to be up here in the
New England North West area, so the base was
established in Tamworth fifteen years ago.
How many local members do you have?
We currently have about sixteen members in
our support group here. We are always on the
lookout for new members. We'd love to get
some younger members involved as they bring
fresh ideas and we always have to be evolving,
changing and doing things differently all the
time. We have a few different things planned
for next year but we would still like to see some
new faces and fresh ideas.
How many visits do we get each year?
In the Narrabri and Wee Waa area, we get
between 25 and 30 annually. These visits can
be for critical incidents with hospital transfers
to Tamworth or Newcastle. Or it could be for a
search and rescue operation. The main thing is
that each visit is all about getting to an incident
or accident as quickly as possible.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service relies
heavily on donations so what sort of things
does your committee run to raise funds?
We do a lot of things. We recently held our
annual charity golf day which was very success-
ful. This is always very well supported by the
Narrabri community. We have a Melbourne Cup
function at the Narrabri Bowling Club coming
up. They have really got behind us there.
We also raise money through donation tins
around town, cake stalls, BBQs at Coles and
Woolies, and various events.
Every couple of years Lodge Namoi hold a
Masquerade Ball and 50% of the funds raised
go towards the Rescue Helicopter and 50% to
Can Assist, two local charities. So that was a re-
ally good boost to our funds this year.
There is also a variety of functions that we get
involved in, that aren't necessarily instigated by
our committee. There was one function held re-
cently at the Baan Baa Hotel that was organised
by three young, local fellows that had used the
Rescue Helicopter, one saying that he wouldn't
be here today if it wasn't for the helicopter get-
ting to him very quickly.
Things happen like this all the time, where
people ring up and tell us what they are doing
and that they would like the funds raised to go
to the helicopter because they realise the nec-
cessity of it.
How and why did you become involved?
I have only been involved with Rescue Helicop-
ter Service for four to five years or so. A friend
of ours encouraged my wife Julie to go along to
a meeting and I thought that I would go along
and see what it was all about. Initially I as-
sumed it was to do with the Westpac Bank. My
misconception! But it's not. Westpac is one of
the corporate sponsors and they have naming
rights only, so that's why it's called the Westpac
Rescue Helicopter. As soon as I went to the first
meeting and realised the need for the service in
our area, I became heavily involved and abso-
lutely love it. And if I can help to save a life that
makes me happy.
From a voluntary summer patrol to a world-
class medical service, the Westpac Helicopter
has certainly come a long way over the past
40 years. What changes have you experi-
enced / seen in your time as a member of the
organisation?
The major changes that I have seen are that we
now have two helicopters based in Tamworth.
There are some big changes to come in 2017
with the new contract. This will involve big-
ger, faster helicopters. This contract will be in
place for at least 10 years until 2027. Part of
this contract is that we still need to be raising
funds, that's how they were able to attract a
number of tenders for this contract and one of
the government stipulations was that we still
need to be raising funds all the time. Another
way that we raise funds is through direct payroll
deductions with a number of government and
business employees supporting the helicopter
in this way.
The helicopters based in Tamworth cover a
huge area. They go right up to Moree, down to
Murrurindi, up to Glen Innes, even a bit further
North and have been right out to Lightning
Ridge, so they do cover a vast area.
Per annum, just for the helicopters in Tamworth,
it costs about 3.4 million dollars. 50% of this is
government funded by the NSW Ambulance
Service, 10% is corporate sponsorship with the
Westpac Bank and the remainder (40%) has to
be raised through the community, so that is why
we have got to be out there raising funds all the
time because of this shortfall. This arrangement
is also part of the new contract in that we will
still have to contribute 40%. Our aim through
our fundraising is to make these targets so that
no-one will ever have to pay for this service.
There are a number of community organisa-
tions that really help the helicoptor too. The
Rotary Club of Narrabri really get behind it and
support it. I can't speak highly enough about
the clubs in Narrabri, the Golf Club, the RSL
Club and the Bowling Club. Anything we want
to do, they will back us, don't charge us any
fees, they are just terrific.
How often do you hold meetings?
We hold meetings once a month. And at the
moment they are held at the Narrabri Golf
Club on the third Tuesday of the month. During
daylight saving time we start at 7pm, outside
daylight saving time we start at 6pm. Anybody
is welcome.
If others were keen to give some time who
should they contact?
If anyone wants to join our support group,
they will always see us around, come and make
contact with us! Or they can contact me on
0488 922 352 or our Volunteer Coordinator, Kim
Blanch, on 6764 9400.
the westpac rescue
helicopter service
Since 1975 the Westpac Rescue Helicopter
Service has grown from a part-time voluntary
summer patrol to a world-class aeromedical
search and rescue operation.
Today, the service operates 4 aircraft under-
taking more than a 1,000 missions each year
across the Hunter, New England-North West,
Central Coast and Mid North Coast regions.
This area covers approximately 132,000
square kilometres and includes a population
of 1.2 million people. On the back of com-
munity support no-one has ever paid to be
airlifted from an emergency.
I recently caught up with committee member
Alan Goode
to find out a bit about our local
volunteers who assist this very worthy cause.
photo: john burgess