A WARRNAMBOOL doctor has claimed delays in airlifting critically-injured patients to Melbourne for treatment was putting lives at risk.Dr Campbell McKellar, who worked in the South West Healthcare Warrnambool hospital emergency department for four years, has spoken out in support of campaigners seeking to have a rescue chopper based in the south-west.He has joined an internet campaign on Facebook fighting to convince the State Government to establish an air rescue service in the region.Dr McKellar told the group on the social networking website there was "no doubt amongst the staff at the hospital that the delays in getting a sick patient transported to Melbourne have the potential to be life-threatening"."It is not a matter of money, it is a moral obligation that the State Government have to provide the same level of healthcare to everybody in Victoria, no matter where they live," Dr McKellar wrote.Yesterday the locum doctor told The Standard he had worked in emergency departments all around the country but had mostly been based at Warrnambool and now worked as a general practitioner."I feel there's definitely delays from not having a dedicated service, that's a given really," he said."Of course there will be delays if you don't have a chopper servicing the south-west district by itself." Dr McKellar said often air ambulances were busy in other parts of the state when they were needed in Warrnambool, which caused delays.He said another problem was the time needed to transfer patients to and from airports. "The Government says it probably isn't economically feasible (to have a rescue helicopter in the south-west), probably because we don't have that many transfers for the year," he said. "When we do have transfers there's no doubt there are delays from not having a dedicated service."A spokesman for Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews said the south-west was sufficiently covered by the air ambulance service."Consistent advice from the experts, the CFA, police and the Metropolitan Ambulance Service shows there are sufficient air services to support the south-west and that a helicopter based there would not increase patient safety," the spokesman said.South West Healthcare chief executive officer John Krygger said the comments were Dr McKellar's personal opinion."This is the personal opinion of a casual doctor who occasionally assists in the emergency department," Mr Krygger said.Dr McKellar's comments come as the Government is facing a renewed push for a south-west rescue chopper, which was kick-started by a controversial sign campaign launched by local Liberal MP Denis Napthine and his leader Ted Baillieu.They argued it was time the Government answered the decade-long community call for a multi-purpose helicopter.