2011 Awards
Chevron-RFDS Spirit of the West Awards....
Winner of the 2011 Spirit of the West Award: Alistair Murray
(pictured: Alistair Murray and wife Natalie)
A St John Ambulance volunteer in the Kimberley town of Broome, Alistair Murray and his wife Natalie have had many dealings with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, so when Alistair decided to start the Gibb River Road Horse Challenge, naturally the RFDS was his charity of choice. Alistair had trekked the Gibb River Road by mountain bike twice before and wanted the chance to take in the scenery in a relaxed, family atmosphere with no time constraint, and so the Gibb River Road Horse Challenge was born. The first event saw Alistair, his family and supporters set off in July 2010. Raising $5000 for the RFDS, Alistair said the ride helped demonstrate how far emergency medical aid had come since Reverend John Flynn first dreamed of an aeromedical service. He said he hoped to reinforce to locals and tourists how lucky the Kimberley region is to have an emergency service that can respond quickly to provide the finest medical care.
Chevron-RFDS Spirit of the West Charity Award -
Matthew Silvester
Working for the emergency service department on a remote mine site in the Pilbara, Matthew has seen first-hand the important role the RFDS plays in providing aero-medical service throughout regional WA. There were already collection tins around site but to show his appreciation for the service, Matthew decided to really push the envelope and see how much support he could enlist. Initially he decided to challenge himself and take part in the Canberra Half ironman and see what sort of sponsorship he could enlist. However it quickly grew into something more as he found people were very keen to support the cause. Matthew successfully held raffles, quiz nights, auctions and sausage sizzles and is well on the way to exceeding the fundraising target he had set.
Chevron-RFDS Spirit of the West Corporate Charity Award -
Alan Rose
As a member of the Toodyay Lions club, Alan has had a long association with the RFDS. In 2008 Alan organized a unique event called the ‘T Cup’ run where 5 1920 model ‘T’ cars drove from Toodyay to Adelaide. Their trip across the Nullarbor raised over $75,000 for the RFDS. Following the success of that event Alan vowed to organize another event. The result was the Toodyay to Broome Postie Bike undertaken in June this year. Alan and his group of 43 ‘bikers’ were hard to miss as they drove the 2400 kilometre route to Broome. In towns along the way they rattled tins and gathered community support.
Chevron-RFDS Spirit of the West Corporate Outstanding Achievement Award - Ann McLeish
Ann is well known in her home town of Narrogin as a strong supporter of good causes, and the Royal Flying Doctor Service is proud to be one of a number of organisations she has been a fervent supporter of over the years. Whether rattling a tin at the local football match, hosting a sausage sizzle or working with local schools to raise funds through casual dress days, Ann is constantly looking for opportunities to show her support for the RFDS. In 2010, Ann was recognised as one of the inaugural Chevron-RFDS Spirit of the West Award finalists for her continued efforts to highlight the work of the RFDS in her community. This year, Ann took her fundraising efforts to new heights, undertaking a marathon walk from Narrogin to Perth, raising money and awareness of the RFDS along the way. Ann’s vision and dedication is unwavering.
(pictured:Matthew Silvester, Ann McLeish, Alistair Murray and John Pearce, representing Alan Rose)
RFDS Spirit of Flynn Staff Awards.....
The RFDS Spirit of Flynn Staff Awards recognise RFDS staff members who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in the course of their roles. Nominated by their peers, the staff awards recognise the outstanding achievements of RFDS personnel and highlight the tremendous community spirit that exists within the organisation. In 2011, four staff members received the Spirit of Flynn Award.
Captain Greg Schouten
Captain Greg Schouten interest and skill in gadgets and electronic devices helped him to develop the only FAA approved database, manufactured and licensed to produce flight data for Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. His database covers WA, South Australia and the Northern Territory. Around 20 years ago, Captain Schouten invented a small portable alarm system to warn of oxygen failure when patients were on life-support. At that time, it couldn’t proceed to manufacture because of some internal legal concerns. About 2006, the RFDS approached a major medical gas supplier to design a suitable device, but they couldn’t achieve a satisfactory outcome despite years of tinkering. In 2010, Captain Schouten was approached by the RFDS Medical Director to have another look at the problem. In just a few weeks, he came up with a simple, reliable and effective indicator of oxygen supply pressure failure. The device was easy and cheap to manufacture and has now been progressively installed in all our aircraft. The alarm sounds when the medical oxygen supply line pressure falls, giving clinical staff warning to change oxygen sources before it has the potential to affect the patient. Also, in the 1990s, the RFDS adapted a marine satellite telephone system to work on its aircraft. The speed at which the aircraft fly was significant compared to ships and fixed locations, and this caused problems with the satellite reception. Captain Schouten designed a circuit board which could help the satellite phone determine the course of the aircraft and provide a correcting signal to the system. This inventiveness and dedication to innovation that has brought benefits to the RFDS and its patients is well outside Captain Schouten’s role as an RFDS pilot and is fine example of the myriad ways that staff excel year after year.
David Ebbs
David is keen to know everything about what the RFDS does and how it is done and its quite common for him to be out talking to the engineers about the aircraft or talking to pilots and nurses about their roles. In addition, he continually undertakes additional activities designed to keep staff morale high, build teamwork and have fun. While just as busy and pressured as everyone else, this man makes the time to make friends and make things happen at RFDS headquarters. David fosters an environment that encourages communication between departments and builds excellent team spirit.
Captain Ross Andrews
Captain Ross Andrews undertook a landing on a designated landing site on the North West Coastal Highway near the Nanutarra Roadhouse, but the medical team needed to be closer to the accident site. The stretch of highway where the accident took place had to be especially prepared for an aircraft landing, with local officials blocking road traffic, removing road signage and making things as safe as possible. Captain Andrews made the landing on the highway – his second that day and his first ever on an unprepared, untested section of road with no markings for aircraft. While RFDS pilots are trained to land on roads, it is more difficult and more risky to land on a road that has not been properly prepared or measured. With traffic piling up at one end, there is a risk that the distance provided for takeoff may be inadequate and both the aircraft and the vehicles could find themselves in trouble. In the meantime, a second aircraft piloted by Captain Bronte Zadow (Zad-O) landed at Nanutarra and all crews set to work for around 4 hours in temperatures of almost 50 degrees Centigrade! It was so hot, they said, that the soles melted off their boots and they began to suffer the effects of heatstroke. And that might have been that...except, 3 months later, in March 2011, a campervan carrying 5 people rolled over on the road from Nanutarra to Paraburdoo. This time two Port Hedland aircraft piloted by Captains Steve Fulton and Greg Phillips landed at Nanutarra and the medical teams retrieved critically ill patients in difficult circumstances. Another Meekatharra crew picked up two additional patients from the same accident at Paraburdoo airstrip. But these complex retrieval tasks don’t just happen by themselves. Behind the scenes there are clinical co-ordinators and flight co-ordinators that do an amazing job and, in these cases, did an exceptional job. There was some 15 individual RFDS staff involved in one or both of these incidents, not to mention all the local emergency service personnel, the staff of the Nanutarra Roadhouse, local officials, passing motorists and so on. Although Captain Andrews was nominated for this award, he insists that every one of the 15 staff involved deserves recognition.
Dr Dean Boyatzis
A 10 year old Kununurra girl had taken a fall and sustained a truly life threatening inter-cranial bleed. The doctors at Kununurra Hospital undertook a life saving procedure by drilling burr holes into her head under the guidance of neurosurgeons at Princess Margaret Hospital, using a new two-way television system where both teams could see the patient. Drains were inserted in her head, then Dr Boyatzis and the other two members of the RFDS team were called to take the little girl to hospital in Perth. But her condition deteriorated in flight and Dr Boyatzis and Nurse Forbes had to work fast, using fine arterial forceps to remove blood clots from her brain – all while Captain Gallet was trying to work his way around thunderstorms and trying to keep the aircraft steady. Dr Boyatzis’s skill in being able to undertake this painstaking procedure in such difficult conditions probably saved the little girl’s life a second time.
(pictured: Spirit of Flynn winners with RFDS CEO Grahame Marshall)
2011 Flying Doctor Ball
The Royal Flying Doctor Service’s second annual Flying Doctor Ball held at the Hyatt in August, was a fun-filled night of entertainment, prizes, dancing and memorable moments that will not be quickly forgotten. The occasion also provided an important opportunity to recognise and celebrate our supporters, fundraisers and staff through the Chevron - RFDS Spirit of the West awards. MC Russell Woolf proved a popular host with his relaxed demeanour and sharp wit. The setting was uniquely grand with a life-sized replica of a Pilates PC 12 plane purpose built for the night, jutting out of the stage. Band A Long Way to the Top opened the night’s proceedings with a modern day take on Scottish bag pipe music, and party band Proof enticed everyone onto the dance floor with their mix of classic rock tunes.
There was also plenty of Mystery, Magic and Mayhem inThe Secret World of Raymond Crowe. Raymond is Australia’s only ‘unusualist’ and has performed at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas; on The David Letterman Show and at The Royal Command Variety Performance. He is best known for his hand puppet rendition of “What a Wonderful World” by the legendary Louis Armstrong, which captivated the audience and left many a mouth open. The RFDS was also lucky to have some of the WA Farmers featured in the last two series of the TV show, The Farmer Wants a Wife. Farmers Jamie, Shaun, Nathan and his wife Amanda who he met on the show, Melia and Carmen joined in the night’s festivities, keen to show their support for the RFDS (pictured below).
