Helipad access improved through new pathway at Te Puia Hospital

The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter at the Te Puia Hospital helipad, where improved access will help ease the journey for patients already under stress.

Improved access to the helipad at Te Puia Hospital will help ease the journey for patients being transported by the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter.

Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust chairman Patrick Willock said because there was no paved pathway between the hospital and the helipad, patients have had to be wheeled or carried over a grassed area.

“Which was obviously not ideal. That’s why Ngāti Porou Hauora has been so supportive of improvements there, as well as to other helipads in the region.”

Willock said Te Puia Hospital was a “hotspot” for the Eastland Rescue Helicopter service.

“Patients are often taken to the hospital by Hato Hone St John, or get themselves there, but if their condition deteriorates it could take up to two hours to transport them to Gisborne by road.

“At times like that, speed is critical to a safe outcome, and that’s where the rescue team comes in.

“The improvements are part of our ongoing programme to ensure they have the tools they need to achieve the best possible results in what is often challenging territory,” he said.

Te Puia Hot Springs Hospital was the destination for two of the nine missions successfully completed by the Eastland Rescue Helicopter team in the seven days from Monday, May 13, to last Sunday.

“Those dispatches were in response to five medical events, three situations where people had been injured while in remote areas, and one inter-hospital transfer of a seriously ill patient,” Willock said.

“It was a tight schedule of missions and, as always, we are incredibly grateful to the team for their efforts in a busy week punctuated by some pretty challenging weather.”

The mission log for the week was as follows:

• The Eastland Rescue Helicopter was out of the region on Monday, May 13 for routine maintenance (with cover provided by the Hastings-based Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter), then resumed duties on Tuesday with two missions to medical events at Tikitiki (12.30pm) and Tokomaru Bay (5.30pm).
• Bad weather meant the team were stood down from their mission the following day, but on Thursday completed another double callout - to a trauma at Te Araroa (10am) and a medical event at Te Puia Springs (2pm).
• On Saturday they packed in a further three missions - to a trauma at Te Araroa (11.08am), a medical event at Ruatoria (3pm), and another medical event at Te Puia Springs (4.30pm).
• All completed missions ended safely with the patients flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital until Sunday (2pm), when the team attended a trauma at Hicks Bay where the patient was assessed as not requiring transport.
• The week’s missions concluded later that day when the team responded to a 3pm call to carry out a Gisborne-to-Waikato transfer of a patient who was in serious condition after suffering a medical event.