Life Flight NZ, the charitable trust that operates the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and a fleet of air ambulance planes, opened its new aeromedical Waikato airbase at Hamilton Airport last week.

The trust has served the central North Island for a while, but previously operated only from a hangar at the airport.

Life Flight chief executive Mark Johnston said that initially, one plane would be based at Hamilton Airport, with another due to arrive in six months.

He said the planes could land at more than 50 aerodromes across the country, including grass strips.

“They can operate in more challenging weather conditions, fly longer distances and reach places that other services can’t reach.”

Life Flight chief air ambulance pilot Luke Rohloff said his team’s responsibilities reached beyond just flying the planes.

They worked with medical teams, liaised with the ambulance on the job and co-ordinated with the Life Flight doctors before every flight.

“It is not just a normal pilot job.

“We will transport premature babies as young as 25 weeks out of 40.

“And then some 16 months later, you might take them back to their region, and they are like a normal-sized baby, and they’re obviously happy.”

When Waipā Mayor Mike Pettit looks into the sky and sees the red and white air ambulance planes, he knows exactly what is at stake.

“My cousin [Paul] is a pilot.”

Paul Pettit had flown commercially for Air New Zealand, but he decided to give aeromedical flights a try.

Life Flight pilot Paul Pettit and Waipā Mayor Mike Pettit. Photo / Tom Eley

“I had always had a niggle in the back of my head that I kind of wanted to give my skills back to the community.”

Paul Pettit said the day-to-day moments reminded him of why the Life Flights matter.

“I remember every child that I’ve transported because they always stick with you.”

The pilots work closely with the medical staff.

Senior flight nurse Permal Samy said that as soon as the Life Flight team get a call about a patient, they get in touch with the specialist team on the ground, who get “all the clinical details”.

Carrying out medical procedures on a plane moving at more than 536km/h creates challenges, Samy said.

Life Flight NZ chief executive Mark Johnston, Ōtorohanga mayor Rodney Dow, Minister of Health Simeon Brown, Hamilton mayor Tim Macindoe, Waipa mayor Mike Pettit and Life Flight NZ chairman Richard Stone. Photo / Tom Eley.

“Once in the aircraft, you do with whatever resources you have.”

Flight nurses need at least five years of experience as either an intensive care or emergency department nurse, Samy said.

The planes typically carry one patient and family members, but could carry two if needed, Samy said.

The base at Hamilton Airport services medical flights for most of the country.

The planes need to be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Life Flight Trust needs to raise about $4000 each time they fly.

CEO Johnston said the Government provided 60% of the funds needed, and the rest came through sponsors and community members.

Hamilton city councillors Graeme Mead, Robbie Neha and Rachel Karalus, pilots Craig Chaplin, Paul Pettit, and James Watson, Hamilton Mayor Tim Macindoe and Samuel Jobson. Photo / Tom Eley

Hamilton Mayor Tim Macindoe said having a base at Hamilton Airport would “undoubtedly save lives”, and the service would benefit not only the city but also the wider Waikato community.

Health Minister Simeon Brown said the opening of the Life Flight airbase highlighted the importance of the Government working with community healthcare providers.

“It is an opportunity to celebrate that partnership and to acknowledge everyone who has contributed to this critical service.”

Brown said it was important to acknowledge the work carried out by the “incredibly hard-working people who are each and every day providing healthcare to patients in need up and down our country.

“Fixed-wing and rotary services are critically important to our healthcare service in New Zealand, transferring patients, providing emergency health care and making sure that everyone, no matter where they are in the country, has access to the tertiary hospital services that are needed.”

Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. Before he joined the Hamilton-based team, he worked for the Weekend Sun and Sunlive. He previously worked as a journalist at Black Press Media in Canada and won a fellowship with the Vancouver Sun.