CHC Helicopters has won the emergency medical service (EMS) contract for the Ambulance Service of New South Wales, Australia.
The contract, which calls for the provision of five helicopters, is the largest ever awarded in the country for helicopter EMS services. The award has caused controversy, however, with one of the existing service providers, NRMA CareFlight, criticising the state government's decision.
CHC will provide five helicopters - a mix of AgustaWestland AW139s and Eurocopter EC145s - based at Sydney, Orange and Wollongong. The seven-year contract will start in 2007, with three years of extension options.
In announcing its decision, the New South Wales government said CHC was selected after a rigorous tender process that started in May. CHC will provide new and improved helicopters for the services, says the government. NRMA CareFlight and Westpac Surf Life Saver operate Kawasaki BK117s on the state's EMS contract.
Australian charity NRMA CareFlight says the government is using aircraft size as an excuse to axe its contract, but argues its tender was based on the same helicopters proposed by CHC and it could have put them into service earlier than CHC. CHC will use Bell 412s until the new helicopters are delivered later in the year. CareFlight had operated a 412 on the contract, but chairman Ian Badham says the state health department sold it in 2004 and replaced it with a smaller helicopter.
Badham says the CHC contract will cost taxpayers A$23 million ($18 million) a year for four helicopters and one back-up, while it is receiving A$2.3 million towards operating its two helicopters.
Forty CareFlight doctors have voted not to fly with CHC, arguing that CareFlight has a proven safety record operating the contract.
Source: Flight International
