SICK people in regional areas still aren’t getting the urgent medical care they need because of a lack of helipads near hospitals.
Despite the efforts of Air Ambulance Victoria pilots, they can’t fly people to hospital if the landing facilitates aren’t there.
Swan Hill local and council candidate Lindsay Rogers is passionate about the issue of building helipads near hospitals and promises to do something about it if elected to council.
He said that many hospital helipads in inner Melbourne are obstructed by high-rise construction sites which divert or block flight paths.
Furthermore, many regional hospitals don’t have the space or money to build helipads on site.
Often patients flown to hospital from regional areas to Melbourne are forced to take off at airstrips and land at Essendon Airport.
This adds extra response time for Ambulance drivers and air ambulance pilots meaning patients aren’t being transported to hospitals through the easiest, most accessible routes.
“We need the government to consider country people in need of these facilities in Melbourne so they can accommodate critical patients,” Mr Rogers said.
“Due to a personal tragedy many years ago, I realised first hand how important have access to helipad facilities is for people living in rural and regional areas.
“It’s simply just more convenient to have helipads at hospitals rather than airports.”
To read more about this story, grab a copy of today’s Guardian (September 30)
