Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service
A rescue air crewman in action.
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| Formation | 1973 |
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Parent organization
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Surf Life Saving Australia |
| Subsidiaries | Hunter Region SLSA Helicopter Rescue Service Limited |
The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service is a helicopter surf lifesaving service that operates in Australia.
Founded in 1973 by Surf Life Saving Australia, a not-for-profit organisation, the service has carried out more than 50,000 flights ranging from patient transfers to search and rescue missions. The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service is the longest serving search and rescue helicopter service in the world, it is also the largest non-profit search and rescue, and aeromedical retrieval service in Australia. Its aircraft and trained medical and operational crews respond quickly and effectively to emergencies threatening the life, health and safety of people caused through medical emergency, illness, natural disaster, accidents or mishap.
The major sponsor of the helicopter services is Westpac, an Australian-based financial institution, with operations in New Zealand.
When contracted, the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopters respond to medical emergencies throughout the most populous regions of Australia, covering hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of bushland, mountain ranges, Australia's busiest highways as well as the coastlines of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.
The helicopters are tasked to undertake a number of different missions:
While the service operates under the umbrella name of Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service, autonomous, yet affiliated, non-profit organisations deliver the service to meet the specific needs of local communities. Each organisation is governed by a Board with local management and an advisory committee. The relevant organisations are:
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