Photos: Inside rigorous training process for city LifeFlight recruits

The state’s busiest LifeFlight base has now welcomed new recruits, and they’ve revealed their challenging training processes.

In 2020 it was the busiest LifeFlight base in Queensland, and now the Toowoomba base has welcomed their newest recruits for 2021, and thrown them in the deep end of a rigorous, intense training regimen.

LifeFlight Chief Aircrew Officer Simon Gray said one key element of training was learning to winch patients from hard-to-reach places, which comprises a major part of their job – especially in the Darling Downs.

Toowoomba's RACQ LifeFlight recruits have undergone a rigorous training regimen before commencing work in the region.

For the first time, the Retrieval Registrars conducted their winch and aviation training on their new Land Rover LifeFlight Special Mission helicopter.

“Being able to winch doctors to scenes means we can take advanced care to anyone in need, even if they’re in hard to access locations,” Mr Gray said.

“For doctors who have never been near a helicopter before, winching can seem very confrontational at first, but we gradually build up the training, so they grasp it fairly quickly.”

Toowoomba's RACQ LifeFlight recruits have undergone a rigorous training regimen before commencing work in the region.

The doctors also learnt how to save their own lives, in the unlikely event of a helicopter crashing into water through Helicopter Underwater Escape Training.

LifeFlight Training Academy Sea Survival Instructor Jenevieve Peacock said it was a physical and mental challenge to escape an emergency situation, but all the recruits were well prepared.

Toowoomba's RACQ LifeFlight recruits have undergone a rigorous training regimen before commencing work in the region.

“It’s highly unlikely an aircraft will crash in the water, whether that’s an ocean, lake or dam, but these doctors need to know how to mentally and physically orientate themselves while underwater, in the event that it does happen,” she said.

Dr Daniel Mankarios participates in a helicopter crash simulation.

The Retrieval Registrars learnt specific pre-hospital and retrieval clinical skills and put them into practice in high-pressure scenarios at the Queensland Combined Emergency Services Academy at Whyte Island, in Brisbane.

The majority of the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Critical Care Doctors’ work is performed on behalf of Queensland Health, under a ten-year service agreement.