The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) is to spend $10 million on a new jet that will enable it to transfer patients from remote locations to major medical centres twice as quickly as it is currently able to do.
The investment is a potential lifesaver for grey nomads and others who spend time in Outback Australia. The RFDS says that the aeromedical jet, which will be mainly used for long-haul patient evacuations, will be able to travel from Coober Pedy to Adelaide in 60 minutes, from Mount Gambier to Adelaide in 30 minutes and, in theory, from Renmark to Adelaide in 16 minutes.
RFDS General Manager, Marketing and PR, Charlie Paterson, told the ABC that the aircraft is also capable of landing on a dirt airstrip.
“Most of the other jets that are available on the market have been modified so they can work on some dirt runways, but obviously turbine engines don’t like stones and debris getting into the engine, so landing on dirt has been a bit of a ‘no-no’ until now,” he said. “That’s the beauty of this aircraft; it’s got the performance of a jet but it can get into long, dirt airstrips, and that will open up in remote areas of the far north, around Oodnadatta, Coober Pedy and particularly for our work in Central Australia around Alice Springs.”:
The RFDS says it is impossible to say how many lives will be saved by the quicker response times the new jet will provide but its bigger size would also make it particularly useful.
“This new jet will be useful where we have multiple casualty incidents, for example from a road crash or an explosion,” Mr Paterson said.
The cabin will have three stretchers for patients and four chairs for medical staff or family members. The existing fleet of PC-12 turboprop aircraft have two stretchers and two seats.
The Pilatus PC-24 aircraft is on order from Switzerland and is expected to be delivered in 2017/18.The $10 million needed to buy the aircraft has come from community contributions and fundraising efforts.
The RFDS has the option to secure a second jet for delivery in 2018/19.
* Have you ever found yourself in need of the RFDS? Comment below.
To all travellers, please give generously, you never know when you might need it yourselves
This is a service i have never had to use but, I would never refuse to contribute to. You just never know!
Ditto ROBJ, we donate regularly, like you said, you never know……….