WA’s recreational abalone fishing season opened this morning with a dramatic helicopter rescue of a suspected heart attack victim at Ocean Reef Marina. THE RAC Rescue Helicopter was sent to Ocean Reef Marina to rescue a diver who was found unconscious and not breathing on the beach. Local Surf Life Saving Club members and paramedics kept the man alive until the rescue chopper arrived. The diver was airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital for treatment. He is in a critical condition. The abalone season runs over five Sundays – from today until December 5 – with fishing only possible from 7am-8am.
The RAC Emergency Rescue Helicopter is managed by the Fire & Emergency Services Authority (FESA), RAC Rescue 1 typically operates within a 200km radius of Perth, thereby covering 90% of Western Australia’s population. St John Ambulance provides the critical care paramedics and tasks the Emergency Rescue Helicopter Service, known as RAC Rescue 1, through the State Ambulance Operations Centre. The service provides emergency rescues for incidents such as car accidents, cliff rescues and mining and farming accidents; transfers critically injured patients from regional centres; and is involved in search and rescue missions. The critical care paramedics on board are highly skilled and trained in intensive care and aeromedical medicine.
