One of the two new Leonardo AW139 helicopters that will form the Lagaw Kuyup Rescue Service for the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area sits on the helipad at Cairns Hospital ahead of its official launch on Friday morning. Photo: Lyndon Keane.
Two new emergency service helicopters will soon take to the sky above the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area (NPA) after their stunning livery was unveiled at a media event in Cairns on 30 August.
Both the Leonardo AW139 helicopters will be based on Horn Island by the end of 2024 and replace the Bell 412 helicopters currently servicing the region.
The head-turning livery has been designed by well-known Badu Island artist Alick Tipoti, with the colours and designs representative of the communities the helicopters will serve.
The design features a distinctive dragonfly motif, known in the Torres Strait as kuyup – a term also used by locals to describe a helicopter – to provide the helicopters with the fitting name of the Lagaw Kuyup (Island Helicopter) Rescue Service.
Minister for Health, Mental Health and Ambulance Services Shannon Fentiman said the launch of the new aircraft meant improved emergency service delivery for an area of about 130,000 square kilometres.
“Today, we are launching Lagaw Kuyup Retrieval Services,” she said.
“You can see this amazing helicopter here – there’s two of them and, very soon, these helicopters will be taking to the sky across some of the most picturesque, beautiful parts of our state, but also some of the most remote communities.
“It will mean so much to communities when they see these helicopters overhead, knowing that health is so close to hand; these choppers will cover about 130,000 square kilometers, providing 24/7 care.”
Each helicopter has enhanced capability including increased speed and range, improved search and rescue, and a powered stretcher loading system compatible with Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) and Royal Flying Doctor Service stretchers.
QAS and the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service will provide around-the-clock coverage of doctors and paramedics dedicated to the aircraft, while Babcock Australasia will supply pilots, aircrew, and aircraft engineers.
QAS acting executive director of retrieval services Michael Cussen said the helicopters meant residents of and visitors to the northernmost part of the state could rely on state-of-the-art support in the event of a medical emergency.
“With dedicated clinical resources and state-of-the-art facilities, we can ensure the same level of care provided in the major centres is available to Torres Strait and northern Cape York Peninsula communities,” he said.
“These two new helicopters can travel further and faster, helping to improve patient outcomes and deliver healthcare across the remote region.”
Member for Cook Cynthia Lui said the “dragonflies” were fit for purpose for the remote area they would be servicing.
“Everyone hopes they will never need to use an emergency helicopter, but these new ‘dragonflies’ will give people in Torres Strait and Cape York the confidence that this vital service will be available to them,” she said.
“The brand new Lagaw Kuyup Rescue Service helicopters are sophisticated, fast, high-powered, and far-reaching, which is exactly what we need in our vast and remote location.”
Member for Cook Cynthia Lui tells journalists what the new aeromedical retrieval helicopters will mean for the northernmost part of her electorate during a press conference at the Cairns Hospital helipad on 30 August. Photo: Lyndon Keane.
