LifeFlight Townsville: Air ambulance service climbs to new heights

Soaring demand in North Queensland contributed to LifeFlight air ambulance jet crews in Townsville airlifting a record number of patients in 2024.

LifeFlight said patient numbers for the Challenger 604 jets, which are located at LifeFlight’s Brisbane, Townsville and Singapore bases, climbed to 1,099 people helped. It said it Townsville base alone came to the aid of 487 people in 2024, an increase of 67 per cent, with while total flight hours reached 2,227.

Soaring demand in North Queensland contributed to LifeFlight air ambulance jet crews in Townsville airlifting a record number of patients in 2024.

LifeFlight said patient numbers for the Challenger 604 jets, which are located at LifeFlight’s Brisbane, Townsville and Singapore bases, climbed to 1,099 people helped.

It said it’s Townsville base alone came to the aid of 487 people in 2024, an increase of 67 per cent, with 2,227 total flight hours reached.

“Statistics released this week show jet numbers contributed to an overall bumper year, with 8,477 people helped over the course of the 12 months,” it said.

“The figure was 13 per cent higher than 2023 and more than any other year in the not-for-profit’s history.”

LifeFlight Chief Medical Officer Dr Allan MacKillop said its air ambulance crews were trained to “deliver emergency medicine under difficult conditions”.

In August, 2023, the largest and most advanced aeromedical service in the Southern Hemisphere said it flew a patient with a head injury from Switzerland to Perth, one of the longest jet flights in its history.

The trip lasted 52.8 hours with the patient on board for 24.2 hours.

Other rescue missions were undertaken in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and from Hiroshima, Japan.

LifeFlight’s fleet of four Air Ambulance jets, including one based in Singapore, and eight rotary wing aircraft operates from eight Queensland bases and is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, directly servicing an area of 1.85 million square kilometres.

LifeFlight’s fleet of four Air Ambulance jets, including one based in Singapore, and eight rotary wing aircraft operates from eight Queensland bases and is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, directly servicing an area of 1.85 million square kilometres.

LifeFlight executive Tyson Smith said LifeFlight’s aeromedical capability was constantly expanding, including its ability to operate across North Queensland.

“Our crews play a vital role airlifting patients from distant locations to major hospitals in Australia for life saving treatment and procedures.”

LifeFlight Chief Medical Officer Dr Allan MacKillop said its air ambulance crews were trained to “deliver emergency medicine under difficult conditions”.

“This aeromedical intervention can be the difference between life and death, significantly increasing a patient’s chance of survival, so it is vitally important.”

LifeFlight has helped more than 90,000 people since it first took to the skies in 1979.

Originally published as LifeFlight Townsville: Air ambulance service climbs to new heights