5333 private links
When people think of Australia and planes, they usually think of Qantas. But there’s another equally iconic and arguably more important aircraft operator, the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). //
The RFDS is one of the largest primary health aeromedical organizations in the world. Using 77 planes, the RFDS offers a 24-hour emergency air retrieval service to the people that live, work, and travel across the 7.7 million square kilometers of outback Australia. Best of all, it’s free. It does not matter where you come from. If you get injured in outback Australia, the RFDS will fly in, pick you up, and transport you to hospital.
Operating from over 40 bases around Australia, the RFDS sends its planes and medical teams into remote Australia to run fly-in fly-out GP and nurse clinics, mobile dental services, patient transfers, and emergency retrievals. The planes land on anything from dusty roads to capital city airports, with ATC pushing A380s and VIP jets out of the way. //
The RFDS has four aircraft types in its fleet. The fleet includes 34 Pilatus PC-12 turboprops, 30 King Air B200s and B200Cs, ten King Air B300Cs and B350s, and a trio of Pilatus PC–24 jets. All aircraft undergo an extensive refit after purchase, so they have the necessary medical equipment to deal with any emergency. The new Pilatus PC-24 jets are styled as emergency wards in the skies and can accommodate three stretchered patients and two medical teams consisting of four doctors and nurses.
The RFDS says it can get its planes almost anywhere in Australia within two hours. //
If you keep pushing past Broken Hill, you’ll hit the Eyre Highway, a 1,660-kilometer road link between South Australia and Western Australia. It’s well maintained but otherwise just a two-lane single carriageway. Along the highway, sections have been widened to allow RFDS planes to land. The runways are signposted, have runway pavement markings painted on the road, and turnaround bays for aircraft.
The runways don’t get a lot of use, but when there’s a vehicle accident or a serious injury among the few people who live out there, they become a vital resource.