Stephen Langford spent 35 years as a doctor with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, retiring as CEO in 2018.
Several times during his excellent presentation he reminded us that the RFDS is a not-for-profit organisation that gets no financial support from state or federal governments, nor from private health funds. (So you are financially better off travelling by road from Kalgoorlie to Perth by St John Ambulance in 6-7 hours, than spending 1 hour with a full medical team in one of their planes based in Kalgoorlie. Medically better off? Probably not!)
RFDS has an annual operating budget of $100 million and an annual deficit of up to $10 million, which is covered by public fundraising and private benefactors.
During the mining boom resources companies finally opened their wallets and Rio Tinto bought the RDFS a jet. There are now two PilatusPC-24s in the fleet, one at Broome and one at Jandakot.
RFDS currently has 12 planes worth a total of $84 million based at five centres, Broome, Port Hedland, Meekatharra, Kalgoorlie and Jandakot. There are 50 full-time medical staff, 50 flight nurses - all trained as midwives, and 50 pilots.
RFDS covers all of WA (including Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands) from a control centre at Jandakot, which receives 50,000 calls per year. On any one day there will be 30+ emergency evacuations (10,000 per year) providing full hospital care in the air.
RFDS also provides planned fly in clinics one a week/fortnight at remote centres to 15,000 patients a year.
Stephen has written a book about the RFDS in WA, called
The Leading Edge, published by UWA Press, and available for $30.
Chris Dawson advised that Santa Maria College had donated 60 beds to Starick following an upgrade to the boarders’ facility.
