Safe helipad for Batlow...

Independent candidate for the seat of Wagga Wagga in the upcoming NSW state election Dr Joe McGirr said a much safer Helipad location is now required in Batlow.
Dr McGirr said in Wagga today that critical care patients requiring air transportation from Batlow to Wagga Base Hospital have a series of ambulatory transfers before they arrive at Wagga for treatment.
Under the present arrangements patients at Batlow Hospital are transferred by road ambulance from the hospital to the local football ground where a waiting helicopter transports them to Wagga or Canberra, as the case may be.
“The current arrangements frequently challenge OH&S standards” said Dr McGirr “There is no concrete helipad at the oval and ambulance and medical staff have to effect transfers in all weather conditions.”
Whilst the distance is only a kilometre Dr McGirr said the dual disturbance within the transfer further compounds the patient’s condition and creates an unsafe working environment for doctors and medical support staff.
Dr McGirr said an all weather helipad is required on the Batlow Hospital Grounds
“There is ample space at the rear of the Hospital for the facility which could easily include the construction of a covered access pathway leading from the Hospital to the Helipad site”.
“This arrangement would satisfy OH&S requirements and at the same time effect a more comfortable transfer for critical care patients” Dr McGirr said.