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Saving lives and protecting communities is all in a day’s work for Babcock’s highly trained, experienced, and motivated helicopter crew members.
Whether it’s in the back of a helicopter, in a hospital ward or in the surf, saving lives has been a calling for Roxy Pena all her life.
Joining Surf Life Saving as a Nipper at the age of five, she grew up spending weekends conducting volunteer surf patrols and later worked as a pool and beach lifeguard while she completed her nursing degree.
It was as a rescue crew trainee with the South Australian Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Service where she was bitten by the aviation bug.
“I always loved the idea and looked at retrieval medicine as a way into the aviation sector in general. Then the pandemic hit, which restricted my involvement, so I moved to the Gold Coast,” she said.
“After working in the Gold Coast University Hospital ICU (Intensive Care Unit) during COVID-19, I was ready for a change and was encouraged to look at Babcock.”
The 26-year-old registered nurse, now based in Rockhampton, became Babcock’s first female Rescue Crew Officer (RCO), and the first for the Capricorn region, when she joined RACQ Capricorn Rescue (RACQ CapRescue) in October 2023.
Babcock has worked with RACQ CapRescue since 2013, maintaining and operating two mission-modified helicopters and providing pilots, crew, and engineers as part of the Queensland Emergency Helicopter Network.
“This is the aviation career that I have always dreamed of. It is an exciting job, and I get to help people,” Roxy said.
“I’ve always wanted to do it, and while it was never my intention, being the first female RCO makes me excited to progress more women into our industry,” she said.
Now a qualified RCO, Roxy is eager to complete her first winch rescue and maintains a solid training regime. When she’s not in the back of a helicopter Roxy is working casual shifts in the Rockhampton Base Hospital ICU.
“The great thing about this job is that I can keep nursing when I am not on shift. From here, I want to get enough flight hours to progress to Air Crew Officer (ACO), which will be the next step in my career with Babcock,” she said.
While an RCO goes ‘down the wire’ as a part of a rescue, an ACO runs the rescue from the helicopter, operates the winch, ensures the safety of everyone in the cabin, and helps guide the pilot over a moving vessel at sea or near obstacles. The ACO also assists the pilot with pre-flight planning, fuel, communications, and digital mapping of the rescue area.
Babcock is continually assessing its team of RCOs for potential development and eventual promotion to ACO.
Just as Roxy has set her sights on becoming an ACO with Babcock, so too has former Army Rifleman and Babcock RCO Jarod Healey, whose passion for planning and problem solving saw him complete his ACO qualification in January 2024.
Jarod operates from Babcock’s Horn Island base in the Torres Strait, conducting search and rescue and emergency medical services for Queensland Health. When he’s not on shift, he lives in country Victoria with his family.
Jarod joined Australian Helicopters (now a part of Babcock) in 2016, following eight years of service with the ADF, including deployments to East Timor and Afghanistan.
“As an RCO at Babcock you’re being groomed for the position of ACO almost from day one,” he said.
“Our Chief Aircrew Officer Matt Dobson is all about mentoring and training, he wants us to know the role above us which means our aircrews can operate at the highest levels that these lifesaving missions require.
“Babcock is great at developing, training and integrating their people, whether they come from a defence or civilian background, harnessing everyone’s unique skills to create high performance teams.
“There’s a lot of opportunity within Babcock, we’ve got bases and contracts not just in Australia, but worldwide as well, offering a range of different roles for aviation related competencies, from radio operators, CASA licensing, aircraft husbandry, refuelling to aerial surveillance and in-flight medical,” Jarod said.
Babcock is Australia’s largest provider of rotary wing emergency services, providing 24/7, 365-day Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) and Search and Rescue (SAR) for the Queensland, South Australian and Victorian Governments.
It also provides skilled and trained pilots, mission coordinators and observers to support police and border patrol, illegal fishery surveillance and pollution detection, mission system integration and 24/7 all-weather aerial surveillance.
With local operations backed with global experience and expertise, Babcock has been keeping communities safe across Australia in defence and civilian markets for more than 30 years.
