Royal Flying Doctor Service celebrates 85 years of operations out of Alice Springs

From pregnancies to lifesaving emergencies, one Northern Territory medical service is celebrating more than 80 years of flying and helping those in need.

Alice Springs Base Engineer Doug Briggs celebrates the Flying Doctor's 85 years in the Territory – and his own 25 years service with the RFDS.

A vital Northern Territory medical service is celebrating an important milestone this August – marking more than 80 years since it was established in the Red Centre.

With the original base taking flight from Alice Springs on August 1, 1939, this month marks 85 years of operation for the Royal Flying Doctor.

For Royal Flying Doctor Service SA/NT chief executive Tony Vaughan, the service has changed since its humble beginnings in Alice Springs.

“Back in 1939, our original base had one plane, one pilot, one doctor, one ground engineer and one radio operator,” he said.

“Within a decade, the Flying Doctor was undertaking around 100 flights a year out of Alice and responding to more than 400 requests for medical aid – everything from burns and breaks to life-threatening accidents and epidemics.”

For RFDS Alice Springs operations manager Johanna Talman, the job has been full of memorable moments since she joined the service in 2020.

Alice Springs Operations Manager Johanna Talman with recent RFDS patient Amy Kynoch at Alice Springs Base

“One of my most memorable moments in the job was an emergency retrieval of a lady from a remote community who was pregnant with her second baby,” she said.

“It was deemed to be a short flight to Alice Springs so the patient could give birth at the hospital and her mother was her escort on board to make sure she was comfortable.

“As it happened, by the time we touched down in Alice and shut down our plane, we had a baby girl – it was a very special moment with daughter, mum and grandmother all together.

“That retrieval took an incredible amount of collaboration with amazing health professionals – with Alice Springs Hospital, with St John’s Ambulance and within our own team – to ensure great continuity of care.”

Continuity of care is still at the forefront for the service, which is now looking to establish another patient transfer facility in Tennant Creek by 2025, according to Mr Vaughan.

“While the Flying Doctor is there in an emergency, we are also there for whole-of-life care,” he said.

“RFDS research shows women living remotely are statistically likely to die 19 years earlier than a city counterpart – and for remote men, it’s almost 14 years.”

Originally published as Royal Flying Doctor Service celebrates 85 years of operations out of Alice Springs