New LifeFlight doctors take to the sky in Australia

LifeFlight in Australia said its latest cohort of critical care doctors are now “rescue ready” to help Queensland communities across the state. The 30-strong group recently underwent a week of intensive aeromedical training at the LifeFlight Training Academy at Brisbane Airport to prepare for their new roles. The doctors have headed to work in regions and cities across Queensland including Wide Bay-Burnett, Darling Downs, Sunshine Coast, Maranoa and Brisbane. Swedish Doctor Stefan Sjödin swapped his usual workdays close to the polar circle for the coastal town of Bundaberg, as one of the region’s newest critical care doctors. “I normally work in the northern part of Sweden, with not a lot of chances to work as a retrieval doctor,” he said. “To be able to work in a climate like Australia and work on a retrieval service, it was too good not to.” LifeFlight critical care Doctor Neeban Balayasoderan first saw an aeromedical helicopter in action when he was only a child. Now, his career has come full circle as one of LifeFlight’s newest retrieval registrars. “I think my desire to work for LifeFlight started quite a long time ago. I was in the back of the car with my parents when we saw a significant car crash involving a few vehicles,” he said. “The helicopter landed and the crew came out, including the doctor and paramedic, to help the injured people. And by chance, quite a remarkable chance actually, the doctor on board was my cousin. I remember being really awestruck by the fact that a healthcare team could come outside of the hospital to the roadside and deliver care to people that needed it there and then.” The doctors recently underwent a week of intensive training at the LifeFlight Training Academy at Brisbane Airport. The program put the new doctors to the test through clinical scenarios, winching, Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) and sea survival, helping ensure they are rescue ready from day one. During HUET, the retrieval registrars were taken through multiple scenarios simulating a helicopter crash into water and how to safely exit the aircraft. LifeFlight HUET Manager Mick Dowling said the specialist training gave doctors the necessary skills to work safely on board a helicopter. “Our mission is to have the doctors skilled with the confidence to be able to deal with any aviation situation that they may be faced with,” he said. “The common response we get from them after the completion is that it was challenging and uncomfortable, but overall, an amazing experience. It’s highly unlikely the aircraft will be required to be ditched into the water; however, all crew are trained should they face that situation.” The doctors also had their clinical skills pushed to the limit at the Queensland Combined Emergency Services Academy, where they responded to realistic, simulated scenarios including a multi-vehicle collision. Queensland Fire Department (QFD) personnel also taught the new recruits how to safely extricate a patient from a road accident. LifeFlight is the largest employer of aeromedical doctors in the country with more than 180 medical professionals. The Brisbane-based aeromedical crew helped 1,535 people across the fixed and rotary wings in the past financial year. LifeFlight came to the aid of 8,982 people in the past year – helping nearly six per cent more people than the previous year. The majority of LifeFlight critical care doctors’ work is performed on behalf of Queensland Health, with missions tasked by Retrieval Services Queensland within Queensland Ambulance Service. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Sally Passey at [email protected]