Stewart Island residents are anxious they will lose their air ambulance plane service, as Health New Zealand plans to ditch the make and model.
The Britten Norman Islander planes have been used for over a decade to evacuate people from Rakiura, to Invercargill Airport, for urgent hospital care.
However, Te Whatu Ora said they were “outdated and unsuitable for future use”.
Stewart Island resident Shona Sangster was among those concerned the island will be left vulnerable.
“You can’t drive to the island. We can’t get an ambulance. So this is our ambulance and it’s like for us, it feels like if somebody said ‘ambulances won’t service the suburb anymore,’ you’d be like ‘oh no’. You’d be pretty worried.”
She told 1News the planes, retrofitted by Stewart Island Flights for emergency care, have been a lifeline.
“My dad was ambulanced to hospital a few years ago at Christmas time… He had quite a serious infection developing.”
There were normally one or two emergency flights per month.
Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network’s Dr Jeremy Webber said air ambulance services saved lives in the “golden hour of trauma” and for “life-threatening heart attacks, life-threatening strokes, where we can offer particular treatments if it’s given within a certain time window, and that’s often the challenge with us in rural areas”.
Health New Zealand said the Britten Norman Islander plane was “outdated and unsuitable for future use”. (Source: 1News)
There were around 400 people who live permanently on Stewart Island, but around 40,000 visitors a year — often for risky adventures.
Sangster said: “They’re outdoorsy people, they’re out in the bush, they’re hunting, they’re tramping, they’re diving, they’re fishing.”
Overall demand for air ambulances has gone up 22% in five years.
The Stewart Island changes were part of a national overhaul of air ambulance services, and a report out in April found nationwide some aircraft were too old and not fit for purpose, creating safety risks.
The government was now upgrading nine emergency helicopters around the country, while moving away from some plane models, including the Stewart Island Flights ones, Britten Norman Islander aircraft, which would still be used for tourism.
Alternatives often struggle to land on Rakiura’s small runway.
“We’ve got local operators down there who know that terrain so well. And, you know, sometimes having the local pilot, who’s able to fly in those conditions, with a local healthcare provider rather than a retrieval service coming from elsewhere, can provide a quicker and a better service for our patients,” said Webber.
After feedback from Rakiura residents, Te Whatu Ora said last month in a newsletter that there may need to be tailored solutions for the island.
The agency declined 1News’ interview requests, but after further questions, in a joint statement with ACC, Te Whatu Ora said despite statements made in the consultation document, there was “no immediate intention” to stop use of the local plane service, and when finalised the plans will take until 2035 to be rolled out.
The agencies also said that “the priority is maintaining fixed wing service availability” for now.