CareFlight in daring 1600km sea rescue

CAREFLIGHT recently carried out one of its most complex missions the 10 years it has been operating in the Top End – travelling 1600km in 10 hours to save the life of Ty Campbell.

About 11am on August 6, CareFlight logistics co-ordinator Jake Pokorny took a phone call about a fishing trawler that needed emergency medical assistance.

“We didn’t have direct communication with the vessel because it was out of satellite range,” Mr Pokorny said.

“All we knew was that a man had collapsed on board and needed emergency medical assistance.”

The Arnhem Pearl fishing trawler was in the Gulf of Carpentaria, about 690km southeast of Darwin.

“We got the latitude and longitude of the vessel from the company’s head office and tasked the Top End rescue helicopter to the location,” Mr Pokorny said.

The helicopter arrived at the fishing trawler just after 1pm and was able to establish contact with the captain.

As the ship didn’t have a stern anchor, CareFlight nurse Paul Campbell needed to winch on to the bow of the vessel to assess the patient and provide initial treatment.

Mr Campbell then fitted the patient with a rescue harness and winched him up and into the helicopter. “I had to put together all of my training for this mission,” he said.

The team knew the winch mission would create a large draft, so they advised the ship to secure all loose items.

Back in Darwin, the logistics team was assessing how the team could get the patient to hospital as fast as possible – a second aircraft was tasked.

“The fixed wing King Air went to Groote Eylandt to meet the helicopter and take the patient to Royal Darwin Hospital,” Mr Pokorny said.

“I calculated the distance and timings and decided that by using both the helicopter and the fixed wing, the pa- tient would be able to get to hospital much faster.”

In total, the rescue involved both CareFlight’s Top End rescue helicopter and fixed wing aircraft, and saw the team take hundreds of phone calls. Mr Campbell was diagnosed at hospital with viral meningitis in the sac around his brain.

Arnhem Pearl fleet manager Phillip Robson said he was grateful to CareFlight and said the situation highlighted the importance of rescue services across remote areas.