Our 117 B2 BK can fly
for 3.2 hours (400 nautical miles) before it requires
refueling. Our Dauphin can fly for 4 hours (566 nautical
miles) before it requires refueling. It is possible
for both craft to carry two sets of intensive care
equipment with Dauphin able to carry two complete
medical teams, two doctors and two nurses. They are
the fastest medical helicopters in NSW.
Whenever one of
the craft is dispatched, they are sent on a 'mission'.
Each mission carries
two pilots for added safety. Telstra Child Flight
is the only medical retrieval service to fly with
two pilots on every mission.
Each mission carries
a medical team of at least one doctor and one nurse
and a mobile intensive care unit specifically designed
for children.
From Telstra Child
Flights operational base at Westmead, Sydney, it
takes approximately:
20 mins to get to
Gosford
24 mins to get to Bowral
49 mins to get to Orange
79 mins to get to Dubbo
Each mission takes
on average six hours however, it takes twice as long
to stabilise a child as it would with an adult.
Telstra Child Flight
has performed an average of one mission per day since
its inception in 1989.
Each mission costs
between $6,000 and $15, 000.
Telstra Child Flight
is available 24 hours, seven days per week.
Please click on
the arrows below to view a selection of our photo's
Please click on the
links to view a selection of missions undertaken
by our team
Thanks to the generosity
of our sponsors and donors, Telstra Child Flight
has the capacity to operate two helicopters, to ensure
that whenever that, desperate call is dispatched
through to us, no child misses out on the vital service
that we provide.
We use two different
kinds of helicopters, depending on the type and length
of the mission. The Dauphin, affectionately known
as the "Lola Douglas", is the primary helicopter
that we use. The Dauphin N2 has a faster response
time and greater range compared to any other helicopter
used. On average burns 340 litres of fuel per hour.
It has a maximum take off weight of 4250 kilograms
and a maximum cruising speed of 325 kilometres per
hour.
The BK 117 B2 is
utilised when the Dauphin is offline for maintenance.
It has 2 x 750 horsepower engines, a maximum take
off weight of 3350 kilograms and a cruise speed of
250 kilometres per hour.
Each of these choppers
can carry 2 neonatal ICU's plus 4 medical crew or
2 stretchers and 4 medical crew plus pilots.
