Today, an RFDS aircraft takes to the sky every 23 minutes to help deliver first-class care.
The Flying Doctor was set up more than 100 years ago by John Flynn to provide ‘a mantle of safety’ to people living and working in the bush.
Over the years, we’ve continually adapted as new technology has become available, and our patients’ needs have grown.
The new OCC, as the Flying Doctor’s eyes and ears state-wide, is key to co-ordinating our response to patients’ needs now and in the future.
You are the beating heart of the Flying Doctor, and with your help, the ‘mantle of safety’ will continue to prevail for everyone in need for years to come.
Like that morning, when 18-month-old Rowan was feverish and didn’t wake up.
Michelle and her children Maeve and Rowan, were far from home, travelling through rural and remote Queensland.
It would take five hours to reach Charleville Hospital by road. The hospitals in Brisbane were more than 1,200km away.
The Flying Doctor was called.
“It was really humbling to be there when the RFDS aircraft arrived, knowing that was all for Rowan,” Michelle remembers. “You feel so grateful this service exists because I don’t know what we’d have done otherwise.”
As soon as Flight Nurse Jo arrived, she checked Rowan’s heart rate and breathing—alert to the possibility of serious conditions, including meningitis or sepsis.
Rowan was flown to Charleville Hospital, where he had a chest X-ray and further tests. He was given medication, and made his recovery over the next few days.
You can help ensure we’re ready to fly out to patients like 18-month-old Rowan.
“This trip was six months in the planning,” recalls Michelle. “I’m incredibly cautious. I’d packed a satellite phone and, when Rowan started to cough, I found the closest health facility at Windorah.”
A sudden illness or an accident can happen to anyone, at any time.
Please give a tax-deductible donation to equip the Flying Doctor to co-ordinate an ever more complex operation that people rely on, now and in the future.
The purpose-built OCC is a critical part of the new Brisbane Super Base, which will help us meet challenges that are on the horizon. Or already here.
“As the population increases, people in remote, rural and regional Queensland are increasingly reliant on medical retrieval and telehealth services.
“We’re already facing more frequent and severe weather events such as cyclones and floods, and the reality is we need to be prepared for more.”
– Cassie Windsor, former A380 Pilot, Manager of the Operations Control Centre and Duty Tasking.