Helicopter called to false alarm
Wednesday May 20, 2009
An emergency call out to Cobar by a helicopter from the Ambulance Service of NSW based in Orange last Wednesday turned out to be a false alarm.
The Ambulance Service of NSW received notice from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) that a passing aircraft had picked up a signal from a personal or maritime distress beacon near Cobar.
Ambulance Service of NSW District Manger Stephen Dutton said the helicopter, rather than local ambulance personnel, was dispatched as part of service’s emergency protocol.
“All beacon activations are treated as distress situations and it is protocol to alert the nearest rescue helicopter, which was Orange,” Mr Dutton said.
“The Orange based ambulance helicopter comprising an ambulance paramedic, doctor, crewman and pilot were dispatched to the beacon which has been activated after being tasked by the AMSA,” according to a press release from the Ambulance Service of NSW.
“The mission took the ambulance helicopter six hours with the beacon eventually located in the local tip.
“It is believed the beacon was unintentionally activated when it was discarded.
“The beacon was an older model most probably discarded by an owner who didn’t realise it was still active and could be detected by an aircraft.
“The Ambulance Service and AMSA strongly encourages the community to dispose of outdated analogue distress beacons appropriately so they don’t accidentally activate and trigger a false alarm and use emergency services resources.”
During the six hours the helicopter was absent from the Orange base, medical emergencies in the area were covered by the Sydney based helicopter.
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