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Paul Logos may never know if the death of his wife could have been prevented by having access to the helipad at Riverland General Hospital. Jane Logos died of a heart attack on September 20 after waiting around four hours for an air ambulance. The Berri helipad was closed at the time as it underwent an upgrade. It was reopened around a month later. "Not only can [a helicopter] get close to the point of departure, it can land right at the hospital where treatment is needed." While the Berri helipad is fully operational again, another six helipads throughout regional South Australia remain closed. Despite being completed they are non-operational due to safety concerns. The state government committed $23 million in March 2024 to upgrade 13 regional hospital helipads, bringing them into line with new Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) regulations. Eighteen months later, only seven have reopened. Helipads at Loxton, Murray Bridge, Mannum, Port Pirie, Victor Harbor and Clare have had major construction work completed but are awaiting a final safety certification from helicopter operator Babcock to be brought online. While these regional communities continue to wait for these helipads to be available, concerns are increasing for the potential impact on emergency patients. Mr Logos said emergency air services are vital for people living in regional areas. "The further you go, the less chance that you've got of surviving in a critical situation," he said. Safety certification delay CEO of the Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network Wayne Champion said there are issues related to the impact of rotor downwash on nearby properties as the helicopters are taking off and landing or flying at low altitude. Helicopters create intense wind on the ground during take-off and landing, with the capacity to push people off their feet. "The design and location of the helipads is at odds with some of the CASA requirements and therefore some of those helipads haven't yet been certified for use by the helicopter operator," Mr Champion said. Mr Champion has been tasked by the government to coordinate the response to the issue on behalf of SA Health. He said the issues are complex and the solutions will vary for each hospital. "[Solutions] will depend a little bit on negotiations with the landowners and so on of nearby facilities," Mr Champion said. "There might be restrictions on transport in and out of a hospital car park that is adjacent to a helipad in order to ensure that there aren't pedestrians traversing the car park at the time that helicopters are taking off and landing in close proximity to them." Answering questions on the helipads in state parliament last week, Health Minister Chris Picton said the regulations changed during the process of upgrading the sites. He said the government has its hands tied over the reopening of the helipads. "We are working with Babcock to try to address issues to make sure that Babcock are comfortable that they can be declared operational." Babcock directed the ABC's questions to SA Health. Regional communities waiting Chaffey MP Tim Whetstone said he was frustrated the delays have occurred in regional South Australia. "There is definitely a divide between the government's priorities in metropolitan Adelaide and regional South Australia," he said. "The government have definitely mismanaged this helipad upgrade over the last two years. Mr Picton said the government was not aware of any adverse health outcomes for patients due to the non-operational helipads. He said alternate arrangements are being utilised to offer patients helicopter access. In a statement, SA Health said it is committed to providing the affected communities with access to care. The government was not able to advise a timeline for the reopening of the remaining helipads.
