^^^ They're celebrities and when a celebrity says anything at all it's gotta be on the news. Them's the rules.

Really, I've seen some poor articles on Stuff but this one is really up there. Perhaps it would be more suited to Cosmo? 

SheriffNZ:

Really, I've seen some poor articles on Stuff but this one is really up there. Perhaps it would be more suited to Cosmo? 

Ha!

That was such a good clickbait heading I just had to read the article, which wasn't a bad opinion piece at all and quite cleverly written IMO. It was tucked in the "Love and Sex" subsection of the "Life and Style" section, syndicated from the SMH.

The latest Online Herald headlines:

Stats NZ has a target of 70 percent of all census forms filled in online, but anyone can ask for a paper form instead. More than 500,000 people have completed the census online so far. We’ve had more online response from people aged 65 and over than from people aged 15 to 25.

“We're confident that people of all ages are finding the online forms quick and easy to complete,” Mrs McGregor said.

And this:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/101841108/ambitious-1m-crowdfunding-campaign-for-christchurch-hospital-helicopter-pad-launches

They even got kids from a Chch school to form a "13" for the 13 critical minutes needed to save lives after some trauma as part of a fundraising campaign:

Yup - sounds fair enough.  "A" helipad is a terrific idea.

The rescue helicopters have been landing in the park for decades, due to lack of a heliport closer to acute admissions - something better seems sensible these days...

But wait a minute...

About a year ago, I was lucky enough to get a personal tour of the new hospital under construction, and I'm damned sure when I got to the top I was standing on a state of the art heliport directly above acute admissions, and I was stunned to see that they'd designed it with detail such as a flame-resistant aluminium grid sub-platform bund covering the entire landing area, lest in the unlikely event of a helicopter crash, it won't explode in a wall of flames, and  they can clear away the debris and still have a functional heliport.  I expressed an opinion that this must have cost a flipping fortune, which was confirmed.

So WTF???

Stuff / The Press have really truly stuffed up. There is a new freaking fantastic helipad.  This fact seems to have been not noticed by the reporter responsible for the story, one or two "reader comments" seem to be aware of it.

I think it's great that some folks thought a crowd-sourcing thing was a good idea, but I guess what they want is a second heliport a "B" heliport - and in my honest opinion, I could list thousands of things that are more important.  Even some more car parking in the area would be a start.

This is a fail by Stuff in the headline, and from the headline to the full stop at the end.

Fred99:

 

About a year ago, I was lucky enough to get a personal tour of the new hospital under construction, and I'm damned sure when I got to the top I was standing on a state of the art heliport directly above acute admissions,

 

Wonder if they subsequently found that the new helipad (I assume it's not actually a heliport with all the refueling and other facilities that go with that) was unusable due to wind or proximity of other buildings or insurance cost or whatever?

And it seems to me that $1M is a helluva lot for a helipad which is surely just a large reinforced concrete slab with a painted H and a fence around it. Maybe the $1M is for a heliport with hangar, etc?

They've updated the story on Stuff to state that it's an "upgrade" to the heliport to accommodate 2 helicopters at a time.

No - it's not just a concrete slab.  The rooftop is covered in an purpose built aluminum grate system in interlocking hollow sections, filled with mesh, and drained. The mesh presumably prevents airflow/oxygen from reaching the drainage system underneath.  If a helicopter was to rupture fuel tank on a hard landing, then most of that fuel (basically kerosene / Jet A1) can't catch fire, gets drained away and collected.

The story also now mentions that they need a direct elevator to ICU.  I thought they had one, but perhaps the people doing the crowd-funding don't think it's "close enough".  I'd wonder if the reasons it's not close enough is because the structure above the lift-well would be an obstacle to operations, and despite the bunded landing area, a risk for spread of fire.

Fred99:

 

They've updated the story on Stuff to state that it's an "upgrade" to the heliport to accommodate 2 helicopters at a time.

 

No - it's not just a concrete slab.  The rooftop is covered in an purpose built aluminum grate system in interlocking hollow sections, filled with mesh, and drained. The mesh presumably prevents airflow/oxygen from reaching the drainage system underneath.  If a helicopter was to rupture fuel tank on a hard landing, then most of that fuel (basically kerosene / Jet A1) can't catch fire, gets drained away and collected.

 

The story also now mentions that they need a direct elevator to ICU.  I thought they had one, but perhaps the people doing the crowd-funding don't think it's "close enough".  I'd wonder if the reasons it's not close enough is because the structure above the lift-well would be an obstacle to operations, and despite the bunded landing area, a risk for spread of fire.

 

A more accurate story, based on your revelations, seems to be "Christchurch hospital built to inadequate design"....

Geektastic:

 

Fred99:

 

They've updated the story on Stuff to state that it's an "upgrade" to the heliport to accommodate 2 helicopters at a time.

 

No - it's not just a concrete slab.  The rooftop is covered in an purpose built aluminum grate system in interlocking hollow sections, filled with mesh, and drained. The mesh presumably prevents airflow/oxygen from reaching the drainage system underneath.  If a helicopter was to rupture fuel tank on a hard landing, then most of that fuel (basically kerosene / Jet A1) can't catch fire, gets drained away and collected.

 

The story also now mentions that they need a direct elevator to ICU.  I thought they had one, but perhaps the people doing the crowd-funding don't think it's "close enough".  I'd wonder if the reasons it's not close enough is because the structure above the lift-well would be an obstacle to operations, and despite the bunded landing area, a risk for spread of fire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A more accurate story, based on your revelations, seems to be "Christchurch hospital built to inadequate design"....

 

I'm not sure about that at all.  How many state of the art new helipads does a hospital need?    

The Wellington hospital helipad looks about the same size, it serves roughly the same population.  It also looks like a plain concrete slab, and in the event of civil emergency where simultaneous multiple helicopter rescue was needed, I guess they don't have the luxury that Chch hospital has of being able to land fleets of helicopters in a large adjacent flat park.

They just repeated the same story on 1 News. Helicopters forced to land in Hagley Park, need to raise $1m for a new helipad. Film of the kids forming the 13 sign and interview with a young boy who was brought from Wanaka by helicopter and had to land in the park. Only major hospital without a dedicated helipad etc.

Something doesn't add up here

kingdragonfly:
Why are DHB's begging for donations?

Because they can. Because they have to.

In the same vein; why do ambulance services and helicopter rescue services rely on donations and volunteers? These are also critical parts of our health infrastructure.

kingdragonfly: ...

Why are DHB's begging for donations?

Because they are underfunded because people don't complete their census forms.

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

floydbloke:

 

kingdragonfly: ...

Why are DHB's begging for donations?

 

Because they are underfunded because people don't complete their census forms.

 

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

 

Lol true!  Going by some census people here, ChCh DHB can probably let out some of the rooms as apartments as not many people live here!