The Official Magazine of the Royal Flying Doctor Service CENTRAL OPERATIONS | ISSUE 261 | NOVEMBER 15

The official magazine of the Royal Flying Doctor Service CENTRAL OPERATIONS | ISSUE 261 | NOVEMBER 15 AirDoctor DAVID HILLS JOHN LYNCH Chairman Chief Executive Officer Crew keep Gene alive From the Chairman & CEO in the air > AS WE HEAD towards the festive season and look forward to a new • welcomed a new Pilatus PC-12 aircraft to our air fleet with the ALICE SPRINGS MAN Gene Hildebrand year full of promise and new beginnings for us all, both individually delivery of VH-FXJ in August, bringing the Central Operations fleet is lucky to be alive after defying the odds in collectively, we can look back on 2015 with great pride: to 15 (see FXJ’s journey on page 6); and having his heart shocked back into rhythm • We continue to deliver a broad range of health services including • had a great year with our fundraising, public and corporate donations 54 times during his emergency RFDS flight our GP and Nurse fly-in clinics, primary evacuations, inter-hospital bringing in $12.3 million, returning a remarkable cost of 9.8 cents for to Adelaide. transfers, telehealth services and allied health clinics to people living, every dollar raised. During the dramatic and frightening three- working and travelling in South Australia and the lower half of the Next year will see the roll-out of the third commercial in the major brand hour flight, Gene, 50, was mostly conscious Northern Territory; campaign we are running jointly with RFDS Western Operations which and at times, he said later, he thought he > RFDS crew members Carol Illmayer and Mark Haldane reunite with Gene Hildebrand • Our Mental Health Care Outreach Program in Central Australia has is aimed at raising awareness of the RFDS, particularly among the wasn’t going to make it. and his partner Carmen Uloth at RFDS Alice Springs Base. gone ahead in leaps and bounds with a 51% increase in consultations metropolitan audience in SA, WA and the NT. “I said to myself, ‘I’m not going to die on this totalling 6,192. This program is making a real difference by reducing Finally, we would like to thank our Staff and Board Members, our plane’,” Gene says. another six times before we closed the doors worried whether the two of us could handle the number of acute hospital admissions for mental health issues; Commonwealth, State and Territory Government funding partners, Gene’s ordeal began early that July morning on the plane,” Carol says. another 50 minutes of CPR,” Carol says. • Our Healthy Living Program, proudly supported by the Li Ka Shing corporate supporters, hard-working volunteers and donors for staying at home and quickly worsened at work in Faced with the decision to return him to the They lost count of the number of defibrillator Foundation, experienced a 27% increase in participation with with us in 2015. We look forward to your support in the new year. Pine Gap resulting in him being taken to the local hospital where he most certainly would shocks they had to administer to Gene and 811 people living in remote areas involved in our diet and exercise To each and everyone we hope that the Christmas period brings you great Alice Springs Hospital. have died without surgery, the crew decided it wasn’t until they landed they could check programs during 2014/15; peace and joy and that you can all enjoy the company of family and friends. Hospital staff quickly determined that to press on to Adelaide in the hope that they the equipment and discovered he had been • Our Remote Oral Health Care Program, proudly supported by Adelaide We wish you all a happy Christmas and New Year and best wishes Gene was having a major heart attack and, could keep Gene alive long enough to get shocked 54 times. Airport Limited, consulted 117 patients during 2014/15, an increase for 2016. while they could treat him with clot-busting the heart surgery he needed. Gene recalls that during the flight he of 21% over the previous year. drugs to ease the blood flow to his heart, “He didn’t give up so we didn’t give up,” experienced an intense feeling of tiredness, We aim to further strengthen the delivery of these services to outback he needed life-saving heart surgery at the Carol says. “as if the life had been sucked out of me”. communities and we have appointed Dr Steve Ballard as Senior Royal Adelaide Hospital. “There were times there when I thought, ‘this is DAVID HILLS JOHN LYNCH Medical Practitioner and Jackie Roberts to the new role of Practice The only way to get Gene to Adelaide quickly I said to myself, ‘I’m not the end, I’m not going to make it’,” Gene says. Manager, both based in Port Augusta, as the result of our Primary Health Chairman Chief Executive Officer – and safely – was under specialist medical Less than four weeks after Gene’s mid-air Care Review conducted during 2015. going to die on this plane’. OUR COVER: Megan and David Henderson of Mount Vivian Station care in a RFDS ‘flying intensive care unit’. drama, he and his partner Carmen Uloth, had The RFDS Federation Office in Canberra has raised the organisation’s join the RFDS fly-in clinic at Glendambo Station airstrip, SA. RFDS Flight Nurse Carol Illmayer recalls a chance to meet Carol and RFDS Pilot Mark public profile in its policy development and advocacy for better Both Flight Nurse and Doctor were kept Gene looking “terrible and grey” as he arrived Haldane again to say thank you. health services for Australians living in rural and remote areas, releasing busy on the flight and ended up using just on a stretcher at RFDS Alice Springs Base. about every drug on the aircraft to keep their Carmen recalled the dread she felt when it was a research report in September highlighting gaps in oral health services AirDoctor is the official magazine of the Royal decided Gene needed to be flown to Adelaide. for people living in the bush (see story on page 4). The patient was stable but while waiting patient stable. Flying Doctor Service of Australia Central Operations. in the patient bay he had his first cardiac “It was the worst moment of my life. He’s In August we welcomed our new General Manager Health Services, “It was very, very busy; it challenged both the Street Address: 71 Henley Beach Road arrest. the love of my life – we’ve been together for Dr John Woodall, who joined us following the retirement in July of flyingdoctor.org.au doctor and myself in our skills. It tested all Mile End 5031, South Australia 33 years,” Carmen says. Dr John Setchell after 15 years in the role. We have also: Stabilised once again, Gene was loaded of our ECG knowledge; we had to draw up Postal Address: PO Box 381 onto the medically-equipped Pilatus PC-12 multiple drugs to get him through, his blood But her fear turned to tears of relief once • congratulated long-serving Adelaide Base pilot ‘Rocket’ Rod facebook.com/ Marleston DC 5033, South Australia for the flight to Adelaide accompanied by pressure was dropping,” Carol says. Gene had his surgery to insert a stent to keep McRedmond who retired in September after 34 years of service to royalflyingdoctorservice Phone: Carol and Alice Springs Hospital Emergency But 50 minutes from landing in Adelaide his artery open. the RFDS (see Rod’s story on page 5); 08 8238 3333 Email: [email protected] @RoyalFlyingDoc Retrieval Registrar Dr Chris Edwards. the drama intensified when Gene went into As for Gene, he’s just grateful to be here. • watched as our new Adelaide Base takes shape at the western end Fax: 08 8238 3395 “The minute we put him on the plane he cardiac arrest. “I’d have to be the luckiest person in Australia,” of Adelaide Airport where we plan to relocate in mid-2016; arrested on us again; he probably arrested “We had to conduct CPR; we were quite he says. 2 > NOVEMBER 15 | AirDoctor Magazine AirDoctor Magazine | NOVEMBER 15 > 3 Tooth decay doubles in the bush > ‘Rocket’ CHILDREN LIVING IN remote Australia are twice as likely to have tooth decay, filled teeth Rod signs and gum disease as children living in our capital cities. New research by the RFDS has found the off after quality of oral health worsens the further a person lives from a major city. Filling the Gap: disparities in oral health 34 years access and outcomes between major cities FROM MEETING THE and remote and rural Australia prepared by late British Prime the RFDS Federation Office finds that one Minister Margaret Thatcher to the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, Pilot Rod quarter (23%) of adults living in major cities McRedmond has had a fair few adventures in have untreated tooth decay compared between during his 34 years with the RFDS. to more than one third (37%) of remote residents. With a career spanning over 18,600 flying hours – 16,000 of them with RFDS Central > Rod ‘Rocket’ McRedmond as a new RFDS recruit (left) and in his later RFDS years (right). Childhood cavities are 55% higher for remote Operations – Rod ‘Rocket’ McRedmond area children than children in major cities, has decided to hang up his wings. and the number of filled teeth in remote area round up all the toilet rolls that he could children is double that of city children. Aside from his brushes with fame, Rod The countless friendships find and make flares by soaking them in says the most amazing people he’s met the kerosene and petrol mixture.

Load more