New air ambulance for Auckland and Northland

May 7, 2025

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Auckland and Northland have received a brand-new air ambulance helicopter to improve emergency medical care.

The helicopter was unveiled by Associate Health Minister Hon Casey Costello and ACC Minister Scott Simpson at the Northern Rescue base in Ardmore. This is part of a national plan to upgrade rescue helicopters across New Zealand.

The new aircraft is a Leonardo AW169, known for its high safety standards, strong performance, and better medical equipment. These features make it especially useful for flying in bad weather or reaching remote places.

This is the third helicopter added through the Emergency Air Ambulance Helicopter Service renewal programme. The programme, supported by Health NZ and ACC, aims to replace older helicopters in several regions, including Waikato, Bay of Plenty, and Wellington, by 2025.

Minister Costello called the helicopter a “major advancement” for health services in the area. Minister Simpson added that air ambulances are vital for quickly helping people in serious medical emergencies, especially in small towns and countryside areas.

This helicopter is also the first to be bought using a special ACC financing method that saves about $500,000 each year. The next new helicopter for the Auckland/Northland region is expected to be ready in July 2025.

Article written by Milli Banbury

This article was written using AI as an assistive tool for research and writing.

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Recall Questions

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Digital Thinking

Many communities in New Zealand use recycling centres to reduce waste. At these centres, people can drop off items such as glass, paper, cans, and certain plastics. The materials are sorted and sent to different places so they can be used again. Recycling does not solve every environmental problem, but it can lower the amount of rubbish going to landfill. It also encourages people to think carefully about what they throw away. For recycling to work well, households need to separate items correctly before taking them to the centre.

Which sentence would best fit at the end of the passage?

Recycling centres are usually placed beside football fields and skate parks. Glass is the only material that should ever be reused in daily life. People can help by sorting their recycling carefully at home before visiting the centre. Most New Zealanders prefer to keep all rubbish in one bin for convenience.