Helicopters from the Irish Air Corps, HSE, and Irish Coast Guard conducted practice landings this week at the new helipad at Cork University Hospital (CUH), which has been without a helipad for over 20 years.
The first landings included the HSE Air Ambulance EC135 on Monday, followed by the Irish Air Corps AW139, and the Rescue 117 Sikorsky S-92A on Tuesday.
Planning permission for the helipad was granted in July 2019, and while further construction, including a covered walkway to the hospital, is ongoing, operational flights could begin as soon as this week.
CUH Chief Executive David Donegan said: “The helipad on the hospital campus is a major improvement in access to and from CUH, with patients now being able to receive their life saving care within 10 minutes of landing, dramatically reducing the times it currently takes when the helicopters need to land either at local GAA grounds or at Cork Airport. CUH is Ireland’s only Model 4 specialist hospital, with every surgical and medical speciality co-located on one campus, and capable of caring for every age group.”
