Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia
The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS; The Flying Doctors for short ) is a non-profit institution that provides medical care for people in the sparsely populated areas of Australia with the help of airplanes or, in many cases, gives medical advice by telephone or radio. The service works around the clock and provides assistance in emergencies as well as general health care.
history
The Aerial Medical Service (AMS) was founded in 1928 by John Flynn , a pastor in the Presbyterian Church . He wanted to correct the grievance that there were only two doctors for the two million km² large outback . As early as 1912 he founded the Australian Inland Mission and opened several bush hospitals. In order to be able to cover the enormous distances, he relied on airplanes as soon as the technology was reliable enough.
The emergence of the AMS is closely related to the development of an easy-to-use radio that is independent of the power supply. This was developed ready for series production by Alfred Traeger in 1928 , so that even remote places or farms could contact the AMS over a distance of 500 km. The power supply came from a pedal drive.
The first AMS base began its service on May 15, 1928 in Cloncurry ( Queensland ). The first flights were organized by Qantas , which also operated in Cloncurry , an outback airline at the time. This went back to a friendship between Flynn and Qantas founder Hudson Fysh . Two further AMS bases were set up in the mid-1930s in Charters Towers and Charleville . The base in Alice Springs was built and opened in 1939 at the instigation of the rural women’s association in recognition of the pioneering women in the outback and to celebrate their hundredth birthday. Together with the bases in Port Augusta , Yulara and Adelaide , it forms the central section.
In 1934 the Australian Aerial Medical Service was founded and sections were opened across Australia. The service provider was renamed the Flying Doctor Service in 1942 . In 1949, Qantas, which was still providing the aircraft, was nationalized and turned to the international passenger aviation business. The state-owned Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) as well as small regional airlines organized the flights for the medical services from now on. In 1955 the Crown of England gave its approval to the name Royal Flying Doctor Service. Gradually, the service got its own aircraft, so that it was no longer dependent on the provision of third-party machines. The Cloncurry base was relocated to Mount Isa in 1965 . On November 26, 2018, the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia took over its first Pilatus PC-24 , the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia is the first user of the PC-24 ambulance version worldwide and was closely involved in the development of the PC-24 ambulance version at Pilatus .
organization
The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS) consists of seven companies (Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia as the national umbrella organization and Central Operations, Queensland Section, South Eastern Section, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Operations as regional companies), which are both financially and also operate independently of one another.
In total, 21 air bases, five health facilities and 10 other branches (including public relations and marketing) are operated by the RFDS.
The individual branches include the following locations:
- Central Operations: Adelaide , Alice Springs , Port Augusta , Marree and Tennant Creek .
- Queensland Section: Brisbane , Bundaberg , Cairns , Charleville , Longreach , Mount Isa , Rockhampton and Townsville .
- South Eastern and Tasmania Section: Broken Hill , Dubbo , Launceston (Tasmania) , Melbourne ( Essendon ), and two in Sydney .
- Victoria Operations: Melbourne ( Richmond ), Maffra , Melbourne (Essendon), Mildura and Wangaratta .
- Western Operations: Derby , Kalgoorlie , Meekatharra , Perth and Port Hedland
Coverage area
The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) looks after almost all sparsely populated areas in Australia. In total, an area of around 7.15 million km² is served, which corresponds to around two thirds of the total area of Australia. The base in Alice Springs alone is responsible for an area of 1.25 million km² with a radius of 600 km, in which around 16,000 people live. 90% of them are indigenous people . The RFDS can reach and care for anyone in Australia within two hours.
Alice Springs Base
The base in Alice Springs is the most famous station. As it can be visited, it is very popular with tourists. It is often perceived as the headquarters of the RFDS, but this is not the case. In fact, it is only manned from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. The rest of the time, calls are forwarded to Port Augusta .
Working method
The RFDS owns around 68 aircraft at 21 locations with a total of almost 1,000 employees. Medical advice is provided as required. Calls by telephone or radiotelephone are answered in the control center and, if necessary, forwarded directly to a doctor for medical advice. Today, in most cases, radio is only used as a replacement in the event of a telephone failure. Outside of office hours, the radio frequencies are switched to remote control and listened to for calls to the doctor, so that the radio is ready for emergency calls 24 hours a day, around the clock.
If the RFDS carries out flights, a doctor is only on board if necessary. Many flights are accompanied by carers or nurses. Often only medicines or blood products are transported without medical staff.
The RFDS has boxes of medicines stationed in many remote locations and farms. The drugs are numbered to prevent misuse and to keep instructions clear over the phone. A doctor can then give the number of the drug to be taken in the event of medical advice by phone or radio.
financing
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The ongoing upkeep of the RFDS is funded by federal and Northern Territory government grants . The service itself has to cover costs for the replacement of capital equipment or medical devices. Therefore, he relies heavily on public donations and other activities, such as B. Alice Springs Visitor Center and Café. It also generates income from the reimbursement of medical services by insurance companies or patients.
Individuals insured by Medicare, Australian health insurance , or by international mutual insurance agreements do not have to pay anything for the services of the RFDS, regardless of whether they live in the outback, are travelers or visitors from another state or abroad . However, patients without insurance have to pay for the treatment themselves.
See also
Web links
swell
- ↑ Qantas and the RFDS ( Memento from September 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Pilatus présente le premier PC-24 Air Ambulance!
- ↑ Pilatus hands over the first PC-24 ambulance
- ↑ "RFDS Management Structure" on the RFDS page ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ "Flying Doctor bases around Australia" on the RFDS website
