News

Flying Doctor visit saved my life

When Belinda went for a check-up at the Flying Doctor clinic in Tilpa she knew something wasn’t right. What she didn’t know was how that visit would save her life.

Life in the balance for baby Jenson

This tiny baby boy was born four months premature and a long way from home - but the RFDS provided special transportation.

“I thought I had a blood nose… I needed emergency brain surgery!”

Brooke suffered multiple fractures to her skull, requiring emergency brain surgery over 2,000 kilometres away in Adelaide.

Telehealth limited by connectivity - Not technology

Telehealth is no new feat. The Flying Doctor has been doing it for over 90 years. Established with Alfred Trager’s pedal radio that connected those in the bush to a doctor, telehealth now forms the core of the RFDS service with 88,188 telehealth consultations delivered in the last year.

Healthy Ageing in the Bush Requires a Coordinated Strategy

New Flying Doctor Research reveals thousands of remote Australians aged over 65 are flown by aeromedical teams to hospitals with illnesses that could have been prevented through increased country health services. A coordinated National Healthy Ageing Strategy is vital to improve health outcomes.

Mobile Dental Unit Training session

On the 9th of November 2018, Corinne Millard, Nurse Educator from Rockhampton, delivered basic life support training at the mobile dental unit, based in Sapphire.

Hobart office opened by Governor

We've spread our wings! View photos of the grand Hobart Office opening ceremony at Government House and meet our latest scholarship recipient and two terrific long-term donors.

Queensland’s largest art exhibition spreads its wings with the Royal Flying Doctor Service

Queensland's largest and most prestigious art exhibition is spreading its wings with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland Section) to help raise funds for the state's field days.

A smile belongs on every child

Roadstrip Retrieval

The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) is undertaking the aeromedical retrieval of a man following a motorcycle accident on the Eyre Highway

Service Planning and Operational Tool

As an Australian first, the RFDS use a Service Planning and Operational Tool called ‘SPOT’. SPOT is a custom made software, developed to assist the RFDS in planning where services should be located, relative to need. This is done by mapping existing services and overlaying these with population data

A chat with Christopher Wallin

Queenslander Christopher Wallin supports the Royal Flying Doctor Service but he’s probably better known as a successful business man and the Managing Director of QCoal Group.

Farmhand to Flying Doctor

The mail plane was small. It didn’t fill me with confidence – one engine, one pilot. But he was friendly and made me feel a little reassured. I was 15 years old and heading out to Abingdon Downs Station in gulf country Queensland, to visit my school friend Klancie, and ‘help’ with the mustering.

My Dad could see what was coming long before it came!

The idea was that Flynn would organise the doctors and the planes, but at that time there simply was no way that the vast majority of people in remote areas could talk with one another, let alone call up a doctor when the need arose. Enter Dad, to provide good radio communications in the Outback.

A day in the life – John Hannan

For Cairns Mental Health Clinical Practitioner, John Hannan, no two days in his line of work are ever the same. Flexibility and spontaneity are required to ensure every client seen is helped. This is a day in the life of John Hannan.