Who we help

The ENERGEX Community Rescue Helicopters provide an essential, life-saving service. Every year we help rescue hundreds of people from many different backgrounds. We have bases on the Sunshine Coast and in Bundaberg.

Population

652,800 people reside in our primary area of operation which stretches from Brisbane North to Miriam Vale including Fraser Island and west to Proston, Eidsvold and Monto while 2.3 million inhabit the secondary area extending from Northern New South Wales to Proston and the area south of Gladstone.

Effects of geographical location

The recreational character of the Sunshine Coast is reflected in the number of retrievals conducted at weekends connected with travel and adventurous or sporting pursuits. The trend is different in the Bundaberg area where the rural surrounds result in the busiest day on Thursday, closely followed by Saturday and Tuesday.

Region	Gender		Duties		Days
Region	Males	Females	Primary (On-Scene)	Inter facility Transfers	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
Sunshine Coast	133 75%	43 25%	146 69%	65 31%	52	73	58	61	64	89	95
Bundaberg	78 63%	49 37%	95 73%	35 27%	31	37	17	46	34	40	20

Rescues based on days within Sunshine Coast and Bundaberg

Ages

The most represented age group among those rescued is the 20 to 29 year olds, and the majority (75% on the Sunshine Coast and 63% in Bundaberg) are males.

The recently acquired neonatal crib is being used more, with 14 babies being airlifted from rural and regional hospitals to major Brisbane facilities for specialist care in 2006.

The Bundaberg aircraft transports more people aged over 60 and over 80 than the Maroochy based one. This demonstrates the higher percentage of medical missions in the rural and remote areas further north.

Task numbers, hours and distance flown

During the 2005/2006 year we conducted 717 tasks, an average of 13.7 per week. Our aircraft flew 987 hours and covered a distance of 56,829 nautical miles.

An overall view

These graphs illustrate an overall view of our workload. More medical missions are conducted than the total of all other tasks combined - 58% at Bundaberg and 51% on the Sunshine Coast. Primary or on-scene responses comprise the larger part of the medical missions. This figure is currently influenced by the fact that there are no flight doctors based at Bundaberg or the Sunshine Coast.

Our most common call outs are for motor vehicle accidents, including four wheel driving mishaps. Cardiac and respiratory related incidents score second in the Bundaberg region and fourth on the Sunshine Coast. Falls from motorcycles and horses occur regularly and often cause very significant injuries. Bites and stings from a variety of animals and insects including snakes, spiders and bees frequntly require hospital intervention.

Hospital statistics

Most tasks culminate at Nambour, Royal Brisbane, Hervey Bay or Bundaberg hospitals, although there have been several transfers from Kingaroy to Toowoomba.

Last year we performed 14 neonatal transfers through the year. All neonatal transfers begin by collecting the specialist team and equipment from Brisbane. They are then flown to treat and prepare the baby who is subsequently airlifted to Brisbane and finally the aircraft returns to base.