A day in the life of the RFDS

YOU can do a lot in 24 hours.

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YOU can do a lot in 24 hours.

You can fly to Europe or do two shifts at a mine site. For RFDS Central Operations, 24 hours means treating 110 patients and travelling 19,700km across South Australia and the Northern Territory

0110 Aeromedical crew returns from Kintore to Alice Springs Base with a 32-year-old female with labour complications.

0410 Alice Springs aeromedical team prepares the aircraft for departure to Tennant Creek to airlift a 17-year-old male with neck trauma to Royal Darwin Hospital.

0700 Port Augusta crew departs with a 67-year-old female, headed for Adelaide following a cardiac arrest.

0700 Alice Springs crew departs for the evacuation of a one-year-old from Mount Allan with bronchiolitis.

0800 RFDS aircraft safely transports NT health clinicians to deliver fly-in primary health clinics to the remote communities of Canteen Creek and Alpurrurulam.

0800 Yulara-based RFDS mental health clinician arrives at Mutitjulu community clinic for the day, which includes 10 patient consultations and a mental health education session with community NT police officers.

0815 The Primary Health Care team departs Port Augusta Base, bound for Marree on the Birdsville Track.

0830 Adelaide crew transports a female patient back to Port Lincoln Hospital to complete her recovery, followed by evacuation of an elderly patient from Whyalla with a severe leg infection to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

0830 Andamooka Clinic opens its doors for nursing appointments, a total of seven for locals and tourists.

0930 Adelaide crew departs for Mt Gambier to retrieve adult male following a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm for emergency transfer to Flinders Medical Centre.

0930 RFDS mental health nurse conducts a postnatal mental health and nutrition workshop with a group of 20 mothers and babies in Titjikala, then drives 110km to Santa Teresa Community to report to the local health clinic for handover, before consulting six patients.

0940 Port Augusta crew departs to transfer a patient with arthritic complications from Peterborough to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, along with a Port Pirie adult patient diagnosed with severe anaemia.

0950 Primary health care team lands at Marree for fortnightly fly-in GP clinic. Dr Dustin Mattie and midwife Caitlyn Keller visit the clinic in Marree, while Dr Andy Killcross and community health nurse Therese McCourt fly further up the Birdsville Track.

1030 RFDS crew and MedSTAR retrieval team depart Adelaide with two-day-old baby requiring urgent heart surgery at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital.

1030 Follow-up consultation at Anna Creek Station with RFDS doctor to discuss test results.

1100 Alice Springs day crew departs to airlift a trauma patient from Walhallow Station following a motorcycle accident.

1100 Primary Health Care team arrives at Cowarie Station; Dr Killcross and community health nurse Therese McCourt consult five patients before flying to Marree to join primary health team.

1105 On-call doctor responds to patient experiencing sudden loss of vision in Marla.

1145 Adelaide crew departs to retrieve a Renmark man with an obstructed airway for transfer to Flinders Medical Centre.

1252 Follow-up consultation at Wintinna Station with RFDS doctor to discuss test results.

1400 After a morning of consultations, the RFDS mental health nurse conducts an education workshop at Papunya with 30 men from the local community, focusing on mental health and wellbeing, suicide prevention and domestic violence.

1400 Alice Springs crew departs for evacuation of a newborn baby and mother from Nyirripi following a complicated labour.

1420 Primary health care team lands back in Marree and joins primary health team at Marree Health Service.

1500 A call is received from Keith Hospital requesting the urgent transfer of a local resident experiencing seizures to Flinders Medical Centre for specialist assessment and treatment.

1520 Adelaide crew departs to airlift a three-year-old boy with an acute viral illness from Wallaroo Hospital to Adelaide's Women’s and Children’s Hospital for specialist care.

1700 RFDS remote area nurse at Marla Health Service completes final nursing appointment for the day but remains on call with second nurse for 24/7 emergency coverage in the area.

1730 RFDS remote area nurse transports visiting RFDS primary health care team to Marree airstrip for flight back to RFDS Port Augusta Base.

1755 Aeromedical crew departs for Port Augusta to airlift a newborn baby in respiratory distress to Adelaide’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

1800 Alice Springs team returns from Nyirripi with adult female patient with suspected pneumonia, along with a dialysis patient from the nearby Warrabri community.

1800 A first aid training workshop commences at Kingoonya with eight residents. 

1805 On-call doctor provides telephone consultation to elderly emphysema patient in Marree.

1830 Port Augusta crew is tasked to evacuate a patient from Ceduna Hospital and diverts to airlift a patient from Wudinna, en route to Adelaide Base.

1830 On-call RFDS doctor receives a call from a patient with a respiratory tract infection. Medication prescribed from the RFDS medical chest at Beverley Mine. It is one of seven remote consultations performed by the on-call doctor at the RFDS Port Augusta Base that day.

1845 Primary Health Care team arrives back at RFDS Port Augusta Base, having performed 19 face-to-face consultations for the Birdsville Track community that day.

1900 On-call doctor provides telephone consultation to Oodnadatta regarding injured left ankle.

2100 Alice Springs crew departs Yuendumu to airlift an adult female suffering tachycardia and respiratory distress, followed by the midnight evacuation of a 60-year-old tourist with severe abdominal pain from Yulara Resort.

2145 Operations Control Centre receives a call from Kingscote Hospital to airlift an adult male with life-threatening injuries.

2305 Aeromedical crew departs Port Augusta Base to evacuate a 46-year-old patient from Whyalla Hospital with multi-organ failure to Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Originally published as A day in the life of the RFDS