AUCKLAND RESCUE HELICOPTER TRUST

Rodders Beach Festival is proud to support the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter charity – an essential service that anyone in the Greater Auckland community may need anywhere and at any time. In the Greater Auckland North Region (formerly Rodney District) alone the service is tasked to an average of 141 missions a year.   

The Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter service began in 1970. It is thought to be the first civilian aero-medical operation of its kind in the world. Today, it operates three fully dedicated Auckland & Coromandel Westpac Rescue Helicopters and crews, and a Rapid Response Vehicle as well.

​

Flight crews consist of highly skilled and experienced Pilots, Air Crew Officers and Critical Care Paramedics. Westpac Rescue Auckland is also the first civilian helicopter service in New Zealand to fly with Pre-Hospital and Retrieval Medicine Doctors on board and the first to carry blood, allowing the patient to receive blood transfusions en route to hospital. Timing is critical in any emergency situation. Being able to provide services usually reserved for the emergency room on touch down can significantly improve a patient’s well-being and health.

The Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter operates 24/7 365 days of the year and, as a charitable organisation, relies primarily on the goodwill of the community.

​

Through the Rodney community rallying together for the Auckland Anniversary Weekend festival, including local businesses giving generously, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised. This kindness has helped Westpac Rescue Auckland be there when lives, patients and their loved ones, are counting on its life-saving services.