Calls are growing for the West Australian government to fund a rescue helicopter base north of Perth.
It follows an almost six-hour operation to evacuate a sick passenger from a cruise ship off the state's Midwest coast.
Two emergency helicopters — one based in Perth and the other in Bunbury — currently service 90 per cent of the state.
Nationals MP Shane Love said the opposition had been campaigning for a third helicopter to be stationed north of Perth since 2017.
"We know that with the increasing likelihood of more storm events and more accidents in the future, and as more people get back out into the Midwest from overseas, we're going to see an uptick on the need for this helicopter," he said.
"It should be something which the government is prioritising."
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said the average flight time from Perth to Geraldton was one hour and 50 minutes.
Mr Love said Geraldton would be the ideal location for the aircraft.
"One other very common situation which occurs is people having road accidents north of Geraldton and it's almost impossible to get them to a hospital in a timely way," he said.
"There is what's called the 'golden hour' with accidents, where if you can get someone to hospital within an hour … then it makes a huge difference in the likelihood of that person recovering."
Locals campaign for change
In 2020, Geraldton resident and marine rescue volunteer Ian Dempsey helped collect 3,000 signatures for a petition in support of a rescue helicopter in the Midwest.
The 2016 death of a sick crew member aboard bulk carrier Yun Mi Feng was the catalyst for the petition.
The signatures were presented to parliament, but Mr Dempsey said the campaign lost momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He is in the process of mobilising support for another petition to keep the spotlight on the issue.
The renewed push comes after the deployment of a helicopter to a medical emergency 140 kilometres off the coast of Geraldton last week.
Marathon rescue off the coast
A 66-year-old woman is in a critical but stable condition at Sir Charles Gairdner hospital after she was evacuated from the AIDAmar cruise ship last Wednesday.
The DFES said the operation took several hours due to the rescue helicopter being deployed from Perth.
"RAC Rescue departed Jandakot Rescue Helicopter Base for Geraldton airport where it refuelled before the 40 minute flight out to the ship," a spokesperson said.
"[The helicopter] reached the ship 45 minutes before last light and conducted the helicopter hoist extraction."
The sick passenger was driven by St John Ambulance from Geraldton airport to the local regional hospital.
She was then flown by the Royal Flying Doctors Service to Perth later that day, and remains there.
It is understood the incident delayed the cruise by almost 24 hours.
Hundreds of missions a year
Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm said the rescue helicopters had taken on hundreds of missions in recent years.
"The Jandakot and Bunbury-based RAC rescue helicopters flew 645 mission in 2022 and 692 in 2021," he said.
The commissioner said 20 per cent of the tasks were represented by jobs north of Perth.
"There were 127 missions flown to areas north of Perth in 2022," he said.
WA is expected to land an upgrade of helicopters as part of a $50 million commitment by the state government which involves providing three new rescue helicopters at Jandakot and Bunbury, south of Perth.
"DFES is in the process of upgrading to a new model that will expand the current flying range and further reduce travel times," Commissioner Klemm said.
