NEW BIRD IN THE SKY
Royal Flying Doctor Service launches new Northern Territory plane
THE Royal Flying Doctors Service has come a long way since taking to the skies in 1928 in its first plane, a de Havilland DH50, dedicated to saving the lives of remote Australians.
Yesterday it unveiled its new $14m purpose-built aeromedical jet, which will service the Northern Territory.
The new RFDS Medi-Jet 24 (VH-FZQ) with the latest aeromedical technology, had its first Northern Territory Outback landing yesterday at remote Inverway Station, 119km northwest of Lajamanu and 134km southwest of Daguragu in the Victoria River district.
The jet doubles the RFDS’s jet power fleet through Australia’s central corridor and at the same time achieves a long-term vision to provide dedicated aeromedical jet capability in both the NT and South Australia.
RFDS central operations chairman Peter de Cure said the Medi-Jet 24 takes aeromedical services to a new level for remote Territorians.
It has the ability to land on an unsealed airstrip to fly a critically ill patient from a remote community through to transferring a high-acuity patient from Darwin direct to Adelaide or Melbourne.
Purpose-built to deliver patient-centred care in the air, the RFDS Medi-Jet 24’s signature RFDS aeromedical interior features life-support systems for up to three stretchered ICU patients or two Mansell Neocots.
It is the only aeromedical jet in the country with a rear patient-loading door to enable safer and faster loading of patients, and a built-in patient stretcher-loader device for patient safety and reduced risk of injury to clinicians.
“It will be dedicated to serve the Territory, to care for all Territorians for decades,” Mr de Cure said at the unveiling in Darwin on Saturday.
“This demonstrates our long-term commitment to our partnership with the Northern Territory government and the RFDS’s contribution to the advancement of the Territory’s health system.”