The Flying Doctor’s Medical Chest is a hidden gem!

Help equip families like Jo’s to start treatment with a pharmacy in a box.

When someone falls ill or has an accident, the Flying Doctor’s Medical Chest is a hidden gem for communities that have no medical facility within 80km. It contains prescription and over-the-counter medication, as well as First Aid essentials.

The Flying Doctor’s Medical Chest is a hidden gem! Help equip families like Jo’s to start treatment with a pharmacy in a box.

When someone falls ill or has an accident, the Flying Doctor’s Medical Chest is a hidden gem for communities that have no medical facility within 80km. It contains prescription and over-the-counter medication, as well as First Aid essentials.

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It’s a service that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world, yet the Flying Doctor introduced it 80 years ago.

Back then, people living and working in the bush would radio the Flying Doctor when there was an accident or someone fell ill. The doctor would ask what equipment or medications were available, and of course, the answer would vary.

So, the Flying Doctor came up with an extraordinary innovation. To put Medical Chests—a kind of pharmacy in a box—in isolated places across the state, in the care of a Medical Chest Holder.

As Elizabeth Doran, RFDS Medical Chest Lead explains, they are are the heart of the Flying Doctor’s mission of providing the finest care to the furthest corner:

“More communities would benefit from having an RFDS Medical Chest, and a direct line to the Flying Doctor—not only for accidents, but also to treat acute medical conditions or to start treatment early, stabilise a patient’s condition, and prevent a more serious situation.”

Elizabeth Doran, RFDS Medical Chest Lead

Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland Section)

Made from a distinctive emerald green steel, there are now more than 1,300 lockable chests located in Queensland. In places such as cattle stations and mining sites. On fishing vessels. Even remote islands.

Places where people are living and working. Places where people need fast access to quality healthcare.

RFDS Qld Medical Chest Contents to assist during a health emergency in the outback — There are currently 1,300 RFDS Medical Chests in Queensland alone.

Current Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland Section) Medical Chest for Remote Communities — Did you know: Australia is the only place in the world to have Medical Chests.

When Jo’s baby daughter Millie started having a seizure one morning, Jo knew exactly what to do: Get the Medical Chest and call the Flying Doctor.

You could help isolated families like Jo’s access something incredibly precious: immediate, high-quality healthcare.

A few moments later, Jo was getting instructions from the Flying Doctor. A short time later, Millie and Jo were flown to Charleville Hospital. Jo says she’s never felt more supported.

Three years later, Millie had febrile convulsions a second time, while she was visiting Brisbane. This time, the seizures didn’t stop for 70 minutes.

Febrile convulsions tend to affect children who are six or under. Millie is now five, so she’s still not in the clear.

Today, Jo now lives on a property that is increasingly cut off by floods. It means they’re counting on the Flying Doctor’s Medical Chests more than ever.

“I won’t live anywhere remote without an RFDS Medical Chest,” says Jo. “When you’re younger, you feel invincible. But when you live out here, you see accidents. You see illness. You have children, and you feel differently.”