The rhythmic rumble of a helicopter, flying low over parts of Kimberley suburbs including Klisser, Belgravia and Herlear, was heard once again this week.

This sound, uncommon to be heard in suburbs at night, can be described as soothing with the knowledge that each landing of this helicopter at Keeley Park in Klisser represents emergency medical assistance for critically ill or injured patients who require urgent medical attention or emergency transfer between hospitals.

“When we fly at night, it really is a critical situation we are attending to,” says Craig van Rensburg, sales manager of Rocket Hems.

Rocket Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (Hems) is an independent and unaffiliated emergency medical service, providing helicopter air ambulances and air rescue missions within South Africa. In the Northern Cape, Rocket Hems is based outside Kimberley next to Douglas Road.

When a critically ill or injured patient is airlifted, time is of the essence. When airlifting a patient to the Mediclinic Gariep, a helipad on this hospital’s premises is used. However, suitable landing space was needed for cases in which a patient has to be admitted to the Lenmed Royal Hospital or the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital.

For this reason, St Patrick’s CBC has made Keeley Park available as a designated medical emergency landing zone for Rocket Hems. Keeley Park is the premier multipurpose sports facility of St Patrick’s CBC.

Community commitment to saving lives

“At St Patrick’s CBC, our values of care, belonging, excellence, integrity and faith are not only something we speak about within our classrooms, they are values we strive to live out,” a representative of the school remarks.

“This initiative is not for profit or benefit to the school in any way. It is simply about helping people when every second matters. The location of Keeley Park allows emergency services quicker access to nearby medical facilities, helping reduce valuable transfer time.

“We understand that helicopter landings, particularly during the evening or early hours, may occasionally cause inconvenience, and we truly appreciate the patience and understanding shown by our surrounding community.

Every landing represents a family facing a medical emergency; someone’s child, parent, sibling, or loved one needing urgent care.

“As a school community rooted in faith and compassion, we believe that if one day it were our family member needing emergency assistance, we would hope for the same support and understanding from others.”

Serving the region and saving lives

Van Rensburg says Rocket Hems mostly fly in a radius of approximately 500 kilometre around Kimberley.

Farmers, mines, the tourism industry including nature reserves and game lodges – as far as the Botswana border – are part of Rocket Hems’ clients and members. However, non-members or non-clients can make use of its services.

While Rocket Hems offer subscription-based solutions, they operate as an independent service and assist non-subscribers through several methods.

In July 2024, NoordkaapBulletin reported on Louis Roelofse who was nearly killed by a buffalo in the Stella area in North West Province. He was airlifted to Kimberley by Rocket Hems.

Early in January, the newspaper reported on the five-year-old Francois Jooste from a farm outside Postmasburg who was bitten by a puff adder. He was also airlifted to Kimberley for urgent medical attention.

With the recent floods, Rocket Hems was also involved in rescuing nine men who were stranded overnight on top of their vehicles after it was submerged by flood waters.