Careflight

as posted on Farkin (I can't verify the views/facts therein but I would think this important or of interest to most reading this site):

Every person I've ever talked to that's been badly hurt out in the bush talks about how beautiful the sound of the rescue helicopter coming to get them is.

Those in the Sydney area have probably heard by now that the NSW government has accepted a tender by a Canadian company CHC to take over rescue and retrieval helicopter operations around Sydney. This means the end of the current operators NRMA CareFlight and
Westpac Lifesaver Rescue

These services have been providing 'gold standard' care to their ares of Sydney and it's surroundings for 20 years. They get 2/3 of their funding from public and corporate donations and they don't cost a cent to the people they transport. At the moment the government gives them about *$9M* a year (combined). The government is likely to be paying CHC *$60M -$90M* a year to replace this service. The only reason I can see is that NSW Health and the Ambulance Service want to have control of the rescue helicopters. If you've seen how badly they run the hospitals and the Ambos, you'll know this is a bad thing...

CareFlight and Westpac also teach med students, train critical care doctors and research better ways to take care of sick and injured patients. All this is likely to end if CHC take over.

I'm posting this to encourage everyone here to support NRMA CareFlight and Westpac Lifesaver. We are one group that are likely to benefit from their help if we ever have that horror crash out in the bush. There is an online petition for Westpac here

Here are the relevant politicians:

The Minister for Health
The Hon. John HATZISTERGOS, BEc LLM MLC
Level 31 Governor Macquarie Tower,
1 Farrer Place,
Sydney NSW 2000

Phone (02) 9228 4977
Fax (02) 9228 3600
Email [email protected]

The Minister for Commerce
The Hon. John Joseph DELLA BOSCA, BA MLC Level 30 Governor Macquarie Tower,
1 Farrer Place,
Sydney NSW 2000

Phone (02) 9228 4777
Fax (02) 9228 4392
Email [email protected]

The Shadow Minister for Health
Mrs Jillian Gell SKINNER, MP
Suite 3, 40 Yeo Street,
NEUTRAL BAY NSW 2089

Phone (02) 9909 2594
Fax (02) 9909 2654
Email [email protected]