Rega 4: Base at La Blécherette Airport
In 1975, Swiss Air-Rescue (SAR) contacted the Lausanne municipal authorities with a view to building a new helicopter base at La Blécherette Airport.
On 2 November 1979, the city councillor of the time, Jean-Pascal Delamuraz, signed an agreement placing at Rega's disposal a suitable plot of land for a Rega base. Not long after, a bright-red Alouette III was flying its first primary operations in the canton of Vaud.
Inauguration of the first base
On 24 June 1981, a temporary building, complete with hangar, offices and sleeping quarters, was officially inaugurated. Since then, the Lausanne base has been on permanent stand-by with three teams, each comprising a pilot, paramedic and flight physician. The medical staff are provided by the University Hospital Centre of Vaud (CHUV).
In December 1992, the Alouette III was replaced by a newer model, the Agusta A 109 K2. Since 4 April 2003, a Eurocopter EC 145 has been in operation at this base.
New base as a 30th birthday present
Lack of space, almost 30 years in “provisional” facilities and a change in the airport zoning plan called for a new building to house the Rega helicopter base. In November 2009, just in time for its 30th birthday, the Lausanne crew moved into their new base at the northern end of the airport runway. Since then, a CHUV physician has also been permanently stationed here.
Varied scope of operations
The operations performed by the Lausanne base include road and sports accidents, interhospital transfer flights and the transport of organs. The rescue helicopter flies to locations in the towns and the country, in the mountains and on and by the water. Assisted by its operation partners – rescue services, police, fire services and many others – the Lausanne base flies approx. 900 missions per year, around a third of them at night.