RACQ LifeLight Rescue service records 46 per cent spike in calls from 2022 to 2023

LifeFlight crews have flown a record number of life-saving medical and rescue missions in the skies above the Darling Downs and South West.

LifeFlight crews in the Darling Downs and South West Queensland have recorded a 46 per cent increase in the number of missions flown from 2022 to 2023.

The Toowoomba-based RACQ LifeLight Rescue and the Roma-based LifeFlight Surat Gas Aeromedical Service crews flew a combined 959 missions in 2023.

The two chopper crews clocked up 1397 flying hours, on missions covering much of southern Queensland and northern NSW.

RACQ LifeFlight Rescue has rescued a man from K'gari after he became ill.

LifeFlight Australia chief executive Lee Schofield said the high number and diverse nature of the rescues demonstrated the importance of the service.

“Often our crews are called on in the middle of the night to fly patients in remote and precarious places and transport them safely to hospitals, “ he said.

“I am incredibly proud of our staff and their efforts to deliver world class emergency care and I thank them for their work in what has been a record year of activity for the organisation.”

A LifeFlight aeromedical flew a man, aged in his 20s, to the Toowoomba Hospital after drive a ute off a bridge at Ellangowan, Tuesday, May 8, 2023.

The LifeFlight chopper is a common sight in the skies above Toowoomba as it ferries patients from the Garden City to treatment in Brisbane.

It is there to help with rescues, falls and road trauma.

In June a mother and daughter were rescued after getting lost in the bush for two days near Nanango while prospecting, and in July an injured horse rider was flown by SGAS chopper.

A woman was airlifted to hospital after a deadly snake crawled into bed and bit her on the hand while she was sleeping in her Western Downs home. Photo: RACQ Lifeflight

In the same month two hikers were winched from the Scenic Rim, while a woman was rescued after falling while hiking at Carnarvon Gorge.

It was the SGAS chopper crew who earlier this month saved the life of a 21-year-old woman who was bitten by a brown snake that had slithered under her doona while she was sleeping west of Roma.

Traffic crashes made up a significant amount of this workload with the Toowoomba aircraft was tasked 48 times to the scene of serious on and off-road vehicle incidents.

Of the 78 missions flown by the SGAS, most were for traffic crashes.

The Toowoomba RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter crew were called to the scene of a crash which has left a teen in a serious condition. Picture: RACQ LifeFlight Rescue

Across Queensland RACQ LifeFlight Rescue crews performed 2851 missions – a 28 per cent increase on the previous year total of 2223.

The majority of missions were for Queensland Health hospital transfers for patients who are too sick to travel by road, or whose injuries are so severe they need urgent medical attention.

Since its inception 44 years ago LifeFlight Australia has helped rescue more than 81,000 people.

The service is funded by a combination of a service agreement with the Queensland Government, community fundraising, the sponsorship of RACQ and profit-for-purpose enterprises.