Lara Leahy
25 October 2024, 8:00 PM
The Westpac Helicopter Op Shop is looking around for new premises in the Lismore CBD and needs volunteers.
Flying out of Lismore Airport almost every day, the service provides a vital resource for rescue operations on the Far North Coast.
Op shops and support groups, such as the one in Tenterfield who recently donated $150,000 through their fundraising efforts, are integral to support the service they provide.
Steve Adams is the Volunteers and Retail Manager for the Westpac Helicopter Rescue Service and coordinates the three regions in Newcastle, Tamworth and Lismore.
Steve describes what the volunteer's work means to the service: “Right now, you've got the helicopter and staff on standby.
“We have pilots and crew members; New South Wales Health provides the doctor and paramedic.
“These helicopters contain millions of dollars worth of equipment. They're an ICU unit with helicopter blades that are, quite literally, an hour away from our furthest point.
“The staff do a 12-hour shift - 12 hours on, 12 hours off, and they do those a couple of days a week.
“They're trained up extensively for the role that they do. So they might do a one month turnaround. And they're based out at our helicopter base.
“There's accommodation upstairs, if they're asleep and the alarm goes off within a very short space of time, they are to be kitted up operation ready.”
There are seven Op Shops between Coffs Harbour and Ballina and out to Tenterfield.
“Op Shops have been our marketing tool here in the northern region for a long, long time."
This is along with barbecues like the one held outside Furniture Court on Thursday to help celebrate their opening.
“Back in 2022, we lost the Lismore store in the flood. We decided that we would like to come back into Lismore and we were looking high up the hill at Goonellabah.”
However, over time, attitudes have changed. “Lismore CBD is growing again. People are moving back into the area. So we're finding we're getting a reasonably good response into coming back into town itself.”
The shop's plans are coming together. Steve has looked at a couple of potential locations. Now, it’s about filling positions.
“We try to get a very good volunteer base. We need at least 40 people to put their name up for volunteering.”
Volunteers can work half or a full day. Training is provided, and there are different roles.
“Sometimes people come from Centrelink, and sometimes we have some of the disabled people through the various agencies come in and work with us as well.
“We know sometimes parents and grandparents have to go and pick up the kids and drop them off, and we're very accommodating and work the roster out as best we can.
“We appoint a coordinator that is somebody who is responsible for opening the doors and closing the doors, doing the banking of the day, making sure the team's doing what they need to do.
“We're very fortunate that four of our previous members have agreed to come back, and all four were coordinators.
“We've got very good people with a good heart.”
If you are interested, contact Steve Adams on (02) 6623 7300 or email enquiries@rescuehelicopter.com.au. Or you can check out the website for more information