Helmet Fire I substantially agree with your comments above....NGO EMS operators, such as, NRMA Careflight and Surf Life Saver in the NSW area have in the past 15 years certainly contributed to making HEMS more professional by introducing ME IFR 24/7 ops...as it should be. I hope that the majority of the HEMS crew in the Sydney area will continue to be employed by the new contractor as your expertise will be hard to replace.
As to IFR HEMS...I believe that on 01 July 1986 Vic Pol (other than NSCA) commenced operating a dedicated IFR EMS helo on an ambulance MOU with the Vic Health Commission. That is they were operating 24/7 IFR EMS over 20 years ago before any NGO started 24/7 IFR EMS.....I stand to be corrected of course, anyone?