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Pilots
NEST
pilots all have multi-engine experience, instrument ratings, ATPLH
(Air Transport Licence) as well as a broad background in helicopters.
Their training at NEST covers medical equipment, route training, GPS
approaches, winching and repelling, and instrument flying. In addition,
pilots attend flight safety training each year at Flight Safety
International in Florida, the approved training supplier for the Sikorsky
S-76.
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Chief
Pilot - Pete Turnbull.
Pete has been with NEST since 1996. He has a huge amount of flying
experience from all over the world, from oil rigs and ski fields plus many
things in between. More on Pete...
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Ian Leaf a.k.a. TWIG is orginally
from Rawene and very familiar with the North. Ian
started flying lessons when he left school in 1973. He
got his fixed wing commercial licence in 1981 and then
his helicopter licence in 1985. He flew aeroplanes for
4-5 yrs with a floatplane company in Rotorua involved in
the tourism industry. Once he got his helicopter licence
he did 'Live deer Recovery' working out of Rotorua for 3
years. Ian then got work in Papua New Guinea flying
choppers working in construction, gold mining, oil
exploration and power line building. He arrived back in
NZ in 2000 and worked free lancing before joining the
NEST team.
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Nicky
Ross joined the NEST team in August
2003. She has spent 10 years flying in the fixed wing
industry, having been a pilot for Ansett and other
airlines in New Zealand.
She always wanted to fly helicopters, so
retrained onto helicopters 2 years ago. Since then she
has worked flying helicopters in Australia, mainly on
tourist operations. |
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Wayne Walters
joined NEST
in November 2005. His background includes computer
servicing and fixed wing flying. He is currently a
part-time instructor on recreational aircraft and
retrained onto helicopters during the last few years.
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Dean
Voelkerling is a trained Intensive Care Paramedic with 20 years experience as a road officer with Wellington Free Ambulance.
In addition to his road ambulance work he has spent also spent the last 10 years working as a crewman on the Westpac Rescue helicopter in Wellington. As well as the usual crew duties, Dean was responsible for running all crew and paramedic winch training.
In his time in air rescue he has been involved in many high profile rescue such as the Ansett Dash 8 air crash in Palmerston North, to off shore rescues out from the Chatham Islands off New Zealand.
Dean has been flying helicopters and fixed wing aircraft for 5 years and joined NEST in September 2004.
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Peter Lund- Resident engineer |
Advanced
Flight  Paramedics
From
left: Dave Hardy, Neville Montefiore (Monty), Donna
Austin, Glen Lloyd, Evan Calder, Mark Going. These are all
trained paramedics and ambulance
officers from St John Ambulance. Some of them are also trained
as winch operators.
NEST paramedics receive their aeromedical training
from the University of Victoria, Australia with the Graduate Certificate
in Aeromedical Care. This is the only certified university course of its
kind in Australasia.
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 Water
Rescue
Dean, Kerry, Selina and Trevor are
all experienced swimmers and confident in the water (many also have
experience in life-saving and diving). They volunteer their time to
train and are available at any time, day or night, to accompany the
helicopter on rescues that involve water. They are trained using the
world-renowned training methods of the Royal Air Force. This training
programme has been overseen by an RAF training officer brought to New
Zealand for this purpose.
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 Hospital
The team includes Dr Tom
Ridell, Mack,
Kerstin, Judy, Amanda, Davina, Sarah P and Kim. The long-term
relationship with Northland Health has enabled the development of a
dedicated hospital flight crew. Intensive
Care Nurses, Doctors, Paediatricians and Anaesthestists form a 24 hour
response team working closely with NEST in transferring critical patients
between medical facilities. icu@nhl.co.nz
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