By Emma Jolliff
The Life Flight trust has added a new air ambulance to its fleet – an aircraft that will be used to fly patients between hospitals and return them to their home hospital after treatment.
But this one has had a special paint job courtesy of Weta Workshop.
Complete with safety pins, Life Flight's new jetstream air ambulance is bandaged from nose to tail.
The trust asked Weta workshop to design a look that symbolises its emergency air services.
“This really is the essence of what we do, emergency bandaging and emergency transport of people by air,” says Life Flight operations manager Dave Greenberg.
Life Flight transports around 1,500 people each year.
“Each mission needs about $2,500 of community support,” says Mr Greenberg.
The air ambulance will be used to transfer patients between hospitals.
The Prime Minister cut the ribbon to officially launch the aircraft - a ribbon that was, appropriately, a bandage.
He describes the work of Life Flight as absolutely crucial.
“It’s the difference between life and death,” he says.
The new Wellington-based ambulance takes the number of aircraft in the trust's fleet to three.
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