Category: EMS

Announced by NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park, the funding will go to support the RFDS’ continued delivery of “comprehensive health services to rural, regional and remote NSW”.

The agreement, which will last until 2039, will see Toll provide a total of eight aircraft for police, search and rescue, and aeromedical services in the state, including three fixed-wing planes and five helicopters.

Helicopter crews at LifeFlight’s Sunshine Coast, Bundaberg, Mount Isa, Toowoomba, Roma, and Brisbane bases recorded 3,534 missions during the year. It follows an all-time high for rescues in the 2023-24 financial year.

The redevelopment, supported by the Tasmanian and Commonwealth governments and set to open in 2027, would increase capacity for both fixed and rotary aircraft and was an election promise from Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s victorious Liberal government in M…

Toll, owned by Japan Post, already operates helicopter air ambulance services for NSW and the ACT, with the confirmation of the previously-rumoured acquisition adding NSW and Victoria’s fixed-wing services to its stable.

According to anonymous sources cited in The Australian Financial Review, the company – owned by Japan Post – is expected to sign a deal in coming days after reaching an agreement on terms.

Dubbed the Clive Berghofer Maintenance Centre, the 5000-square-metre facility is the largest maintenance base in LifeFlight’s network and the largest hangar at Archerfield, replacing the old LifeFlight maintenance centre built in the 1940s.

The not-for-profit’s helicopters and jets assisted 8,177 people in FY24, up 11.2 per cent on the previous year. LifeFlight helicopters chalked up 5,159 total flying hours, an increase of 25 per cent, across 3,378 total rotary-wing missions.

Additional funding of $29.1 million will be given to the RFDS over the two financial years to 30 June 2025, on top of the $1 billion in funding already committed over 10 years. The extra funding includes $1 million for a permanent healthcare hub in Wil…