Last night (8 April 2018), ironically while supporting a rescue on Mt Ruapehu, I was notified by a fellow volunteer firefighter that the busy rescue helicopter service based in Te Anau was also under threat from this NASO initiative. Under NASO's plan, air ambulance services for Te Anau would be provided from Queenstown or Dunedin, again with much longer response times and lacking the intimate local knowledge that makes the current system so effective. As a result, I have broadened the scope of our petition to include the Te Anau at risk service as well. If any other services are also at risk under the NASO proposal, please let me know and I will include them as well. I think that a single large petition will carry more weight with the Ministers of ACC and Health than a number of smaller petitions that might dilute the effect. I've also added the Minister of Health as one of the targeted decision makers. The Minister of Health is responsible for medical i.e. illness-related air ambulance taskings; the Minister for ACC is responsible for injury-related air ambulance taskings. NZ Police are responsible for Search and Rescue taskings, which may turn into an air ambulance job: usually the same aircraft and the same crew with nary a chance to swap hats. To remain viable, rescue helicopters (going to keeping calling them this) generally rely on all three funding streams plus generous public pockets. To lose one finding stream, like that for air ambulance, places the whole capability at risk. Please read the attached article about the also at-risk Te Anau rescue helicopter. Some of the operators quoted make some good points about the logic of the NASO proposal - NASO still remaining silent and not yet providing any further data to supports its position. Here's a link (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12028370) to an article on one of the rescues in Tongariro National Park over the weekend taht wa scarried out by the Greenlea rescue helicopter from Taupo. If this lady had had to wait for a helicopter from Hamilton, Palmerston North or New Plymouth, it is quite possible the weather would have closed in further and she would not have been picked up so easily. Being piggy-backed with a broken leg is no holiday at any age... I think that a comprehensive air ambulance network that covers the whole of New Zealand would be awesome. But not at the expense of life-saving response times and the intimate local knowledge that make it work now. I think we should be working towards this concept in a manner than ensures the most effective pre-hospital emergency care air ambulance service, without sacrificing lives in the name of efficiency. I'd also like to see that national service integrate the three models of Defence Force helicopters (A-109, NH-90, and SH-2) that could bring significant capability to the party... Keep up the fight...keep sharing the links to the petition (we should break 10,000 signatures today)...keep sharing the links to donate to rescue helicopter services (https://www.rescue.org.nz/donate/) just the cost of the latte is all we ask...and keep registering concerns directly (but constructively!!) with the national points of decision: The Hon. Iain Lees-Gaolloway Minister for ACC iain.lees-galloway@parliament.govt.nz The Hon. Dr David Clark Minister of Health d.clark@ministers.govt.nz Min of Health The National Ambulance Service Office or NASO (who are behind all of this) airambulance@naso.govt.nz