You may have noticed that we look a little different these days. Our new logo reflects our new Principal Sponsor, Wallace Foundation, but rest assured, we are still the same Hawke’s Bay Rescue Helicopter Trust that has been here since 1984, ready to respond when our community needs us most.

And now, we have a brand-new H145 rescue helicopter to help us do that.

I know that sounds exciting from the outside, but for me, it became very real when I flew my first mission in the new helicopter.

Our patient was a baby with influenza who needed an urgent transfer to Hawke’s Bay Hospital in Hastings for specialist care. As a father myself, missions involving young children always feel particularly emotional. You can’t help but think about what those parents must be going through – the worry, the uncertainty and the fear of seeing their precious baby needing urgent medical care.

Our job is to get that little patient safely to the care they need as quickly as possible. And this new helicopter is helping us do exactly that.

I’ve flown many different types of helicopters throughout my career and have accumulated almost 10,000 hours of flying experience. I can honestly say that the H145 is by far the most capable and impressive helicopter I have ever flown.

But what excites me most isn’t simply how it flies.

It’s what it means for our patients.

The H145 has considerably more space in the back of the aircraft, giving our highly skilled medical team more room to work around a patient when they need it most. It also means a parent, family member or support person can stay close to their loved one during the journey, in a much more comfortable environment.

For a parent sitting beside their sick child, that extra space and comfort can mean so much.

For our medical crew, it means having more room to provide care.

And for our pilots and aircrew, it means flying an aircraft designed specifically to support the complex and lifesaving work we do.

This was just my first mission in our new H145. There will be many more.

There will be babies and children who need urgent transfers. There will be people seriously injured in accidents. There will be patients who need to reach specialist care quickly and there will be families who, in some of the most frightening moments of their lives, rely on us to get their loved one where they need to be.

The helicopter may be new, but our mission hasn’t changed.

For over 40 years, the Hawke’s Bay Rescue Helicopter Trust has been there for our community and thanks to the generosity of our donors. 

Please help us keep this lifesaving service flying.

Your donation today will help support the ongoing operation of our rescue helicopter and ensure our crew can continue responding to the people of Hawke’s Bay when every minute matters.

Thank you for helping make missions like this possible.

Cheers,

Hamish Ramsay 

Pilot – Wallace Foundation Rescue Helicopter Service. 

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