Leader of The Nationals and Maranoa MP David Littleproud has welcomed the official opening of LifeFlight’s new base at Roma.
Unveiled at a ceremony on Monday, the new state-of-the-art facility will provide residents of the region with access to emergency medical care.
The project, is supported by the Lee Family Group and the former Coalition Government’s grant of $1,072,137 via the now-defunct Building Better Regions Fund.
“The opening of this facility is indeed a major turning point for the Maranoa electorate and I’m proud to have secured the Federal Government’s commitment to it,” Mr Littleproud said.
“Now everyone in the region will have peace of mind knowing that state-of-the-art medical assistance is never far away.
“LifeFlight does magnificent work, and it is really pleasing to see that the funding delivered by the former Coalition government’s Building Better Regions Fund for this project has come to fruition.”
The new facility features a hangar large enough to efficiently house an AW139 aircraft, and will be home to the LifeFlight Surat Gas Aeromedical Service (SGAS) chopper and crew.
The service which is provided by LifeFlight on behalf of Surat Basin Gas companies – Shell’s QGC business, Santos, Arrow Energy and Australia Pacific LNG/Origin Energy – has been dedicated to the South West since 2011.
It was started to ensure gas company employees, their families and community members in South West Queensland had access to prompt emergency medical services and to minimise the impact on local medical services.
As part of their commitment to the region, the SGAS partners donate 150 flying hours each year to assure community aeromedical coverage.
LifeFlightSouth West Regional Advisory Committee Chair Kate Scott said the opening of the base was indeed a special occasion.
“This project has been a true partnership that has involved the Federal Government, generous community members, businesses, major donors, the Maranoa Regional Council, our SGAS partners and LifeFlight Australia,” Ms Scott said.
“As we look to the future of LifeFlight in our region, we will continue to support projects which help to deliver vital medical retrieval services.”
In 2022 alone, the Roma LifeFlight SGAS helicopter crew helped 78 people, with the top five mission categories including motor vehicle incidents (17 missions), animal falls (7 missions) and cardiac/chest pain incidents (7 missions).
