International Women's Day is a perfect time to show appreciation and recognize the important contributions women have made to our world, especially female crew members of the Aerocool Rescue Helicopter for their dedication to helping save lives, every day.

Kara shares an insight into a day in her life as a rescue helicopter crewman and some of the amazing achievements she has made so far.

Kara has been working onboard the Aerocool Rescue Helicopter for almost a year now and is responsible for assisting with providing medical care and transportation to those in need.

Kara describes her role as being 'the Pilot's 2nd set of eyes and ears and the Critical Care Flight Paramedic's extra set of hands”.

Her role requires her to conduct pre-flight inspections of the helicopter as the Pilot starts up the engines.

She also shares the on-scene coordinates with the pilot from the iPad data and undertakes a pre-take-off check. En route, she will update the Air desk communications with their current location, intentions and route.

'Depending on the nature of the mission, my duties range from assessing the scene landing area and keeping the team updated with this information, actively looking out for any hazards or other aircrafts during our flight, and liaising with ambulance comms or on-scene responders.”

'Occasionally we can't land at all. In this instance, I am responsible for operating the winch and getting the CCFP to the patient and bringing them both back into the aircraft safely.”

Since she was young, Kara knew she wanted to work onboard a rescue helicopter when her Mum organised a flying lesson for her in a light fixed-wing aircraft, when she was just 10 years old. Although she didn't continue to pursue a career as a pilot, ever since that lesson, she had an interest in aviation and flying in general.

'I've been a Paramedic for over 12 years, working for Hato Hone St John and also in the Mining industry in WA, Australia. When I heard about the Crewman / Paramedic position, I thought it sounded like the perfect role to combine two of my passions, pre-hospital medicine and aviation.”

Kara is proud to be able to help those in need during what is often the darkest time of their life. She is passionate about making a difference in people's lives but at the same time understands the importance of taking care of herself and makes sure to spend time with her friends and family to relax and recharge.

'I have two daughters (3yr old & 4.5yr old) who keep me very busy when I'm not at work. Any downtime I do get, I try to use it to recharge and unwind. We love going to the beach and just spending time together as a whānau. I'm also completing my post-graduate diploma in Health Science – Paramedicine, so that keeps me fairly busy too.”

Kara can be proud of the incredible impact she has made on hundreds of lives, and we should continue to celebrate the success of these women and the incredible work they do every day on your rescue helicopters.

Your Aerocool Rescue Helicopter relies on generous donations to help fund life-saving missions. Donate to your Aerocool Rescue Helicopter crew at https://give.rescue.org.nz/