Our Bases - Tasmanian Section
Launceston Base
Take off!
While many people associate the RFDS with Outback Australia, there are people living in rural Tasmania (and on the surrounding islands) who are just as isolated and in just as much need of access to medical care as those living in the Outback. In addition there are also people who require air transport between Tasmanian cities in order to access specialised services.
The History of the Base
1959 - 1994
Following a survey in 1959, RFDS Doctors Alan Vickers and George Simpson reported that, “There are communities on the Bass Strait islands, on other islands adjacent to the coast and in some areas of the Tasmanian mainland as isolated as any in Australia. Although the distances are not great, these people are isolated except by air transport because of water or difficult terrain”. The Tasmanian public is also isolated from specialist intensive care facilities not available in the State by Bass Strait.
It was following that report, that the RFDS National Council approved the formation of its Tasmanian Section. The Section was officially formed at a public meeting in Launceston in July 1960.
For the next twenty one years the Section operated from the Tasmanian Aero Club in the north and the Aero Club of Southern Tasmania in the south employing their facilities, aircraft and pilots. About 50 patients were flown in the first year.
In 1981, Tasmania’s first dedicated aerial ambulance, a Beechcraft B58, operated by SP Aviation at Devonport came into service for the Tasmanian Section.
In 1986, the Tasmanian Section called for tenders to operate two aerial ambulance aircraft from Launceston airport one of which was to be pressurised. The successful tenderer was Airlines of Tasmania. The availability of a pressurised aircraft expanded the types of injuries with which patients could be safely flown.
In 1994, the Tasmanian Section purchased its own aerial ambulance, a twin-engined pressurised Mojave from West Australia Section of the RFDS. The speed and altitude capabilities of this aircraft significantly improved the services able to be provided to the Tasmanian community.
1996 – Now!
In 1996, consultation with the Department of Health resulted in the Tasmanian Government taking an active interest in the service. The RFDS had begun introducing the larger Beechcraft Kingair which was to become one of only two types operated by the RFDS nationally. As a result of the closure of the Airlines of Tasmania and these developments, the Tasmanian Section entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the larger New South Wales Section of the RFDS. Kingair operations began from Launceston under the MOU and the Mojave aircraft was sold. The availability of the highly capable Kingair and its commonality with the RFDS fleet further improved the services able to be offered to the Tasmanian community.
In the latter half of 1997, after calling for tenders the State Government awarded a contract to the combined Tasmanian and New South Wales Sections to provide aircraft and pilots for an aerial ambulance service in Tasmania. That contract was managed by the Tasmanian Ambulance Service.
In September 1998, a new aeromedical facility at Launceston Airport was opened and for the first time there was a purpose-built base in Tasmania. The base was built without calling for financial assistance from Federal or State Governments and is owned by the Tasmanian Section. The base greatly enhanced the ability of the RFDS and the Tasmanian Ambulance Service to operate aerial ambulance services in Tasmania.
The multi-million dollar base is a modern complex which comprises a hangar designed to facilitate the transfer of patients between road ambulances and the aerial ambulance, provide accommodation for up to three aircraft, engineering facilities, a pilot’s office and sleeping accommodation, administration offices, a store room, a reception area and a clinical area where patients may be resuscitated if the need arises.
In 2004, the current contract which is still managed by the Tasmanian Ambulance Service was awarded by the Tasmanian Government to the commercial element of the South East Section of the RFDS in NSW. Approximately 900 patients are flown each year. Launceston base is home to one Kingair aerial ambulance, six pilots, an engineer and a manager and, of course, the Tasmanian Section.
The Tasmanian Section is proud to be supplying and maintaining the base at Launceston airport from which aerial ambulance services are provided to the Tasmanian and Bass Strait communities.