Search and Rescue Services Ltd SRSL

Search and Rescue Services Ltd (SRSL) is a helicopter air ambulance and rescue operator based in Taupo, New Zealand. It flies emergency and hospital transfer missions across the central and eastern North Island.

Services

SRSL works under a contract with the Ambulance Team, on behalf of Te Whatu Ora Health NZ and ACC. Its crews fly day and night, in any weather that allows safe flying. The site lists these services:

• Critical care response on scene
• Medical transport between hospitals for sick and injured patients
• Land search and rescue, including mountain and bush
• Maritime search and rescue, including winching
• Emergency beacon response

Bases and crews

The company says it operates from eight bases on the North Island: Tauranga, Hamilton, Taupo, New Plymouth, Gisborne, Hastings, Palmerston North and Wellington. It says its team has more than 150 pilots, critical care paramedics and air crew officers.

Funding and partners

SRSL works with regional charitable trusts. Its site says the service is paid for by a mix of government funding and money raised by those trusts. The trusts it lists include the Hawke's Bay Rescue Helicopter Trust, the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust and the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust.

Facts

• Type: air ambulance and rescue helicopter operator
• Head office: Taupo, New Zealand
• Contract holder for central New Zealand helicopter air ambulance services
• Aircraft: helicopters
• In an emergency in New Zealand, people are told to dial 111

Who it is for

The service is for people in the central and eastern North Island who need urgent care that a road ambulance cannot give, or who must be moved between hospitals. The company says its crews respond to emergencies, hospital transfers and many other missions in between.