Page 7 - Volume 12 Number 6

NZFDS was established to provide intensive care to patients throughout their transport and from one hospital bed to another. (STU DRAKE)
to Nelson and was eventually replaced with a King Air C90B in 2012. The operation in Nelson doesn’t work at an intensive care level and mostly transfers patients who can walk up and down the stairs of the aircraft. The C90B does have the ability to load and unload patients on a stretcher via the standard door, if needed.
According to Arthur Ruddenklau, NZFDS’s operations manager, a typical mission is a flight from Christchurch to Greymouth to transfer an intensive care patient to a more specialized hospital in Christchurch. Greymouth, on the West Coast of South Island, is a thin stretch of flat land sandwiched between the South Alps and the Tasman Sea. “The prevailing weather patterns are westerly in nature which makes the West Coast very wet. The average rainfall ranges from 200 centimeters (78 inches) on the coastal area and 1,000 centimeters
The King Air C90B, purchased in 2012, is based in Nelson and mostly transfers patients who can use the stairs. (MATT HAYES)
(394 inches) on the western side of the Southern Alps which presents a number of challenges for the pilots,” Ruddenklau said.
NZFDS also conducts medical flights to and from the Chatham Islands – a group of 10 islands in the Pacific Ocean about 500 nautical miles east/northeast of Christchurch. “The weather on the Islands can also pose a challenge with a constant ‘breeze’ averaging 16 knots, and for at least 120 days of the year, it can gust to more than 35 knots. There are also a number of days that the islands are affected by low clouds, drizzle, mist and fog which adds to the flight challenges,” Ruddenklau explained. “The Super King Air 200C is well suited for these flights as it can carry a standard medical team of a nurse and doctor, two pilots and enough fuel to reach the island and divert back to the mainland if required.”
The King Air has proven to be the right aircraft for the NZFDS and they are currently searching for a
JUNE 2018
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 5