News
#90 A single dad, a sailboat, two girls and a wheel barrow
For two years, single dad James and his daughters Halle and Isla sailed along WA's coast on 'Salty Jocks', embracing remote schooling and fishing. In an inspiring move, James pushed his daughters 500km in a wheelbarrow to support RFDS's Oceans to Outback fundraiser.
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RFDS Fortescue Heli-Med Service EC145 helicopter two year anniversary
09 May 2024Today marks two years since the RFDS Fortescue Heli-Med Service EC145 helicopters joined the Royal Flying Doctor Service WA fleet.
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Leanne's Story
09 May 2024Leanne and her husband Darren were taking their new campervan back home to Exmouth when a medical emergency almost cost Leanne her life.
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#89 Tired, toilet, thirsty, thinner - Emma's young son ticked all the boxes for Type 1 diabetes.
03 May 2024When Emma Turner first discovered her seven-year-old son, Fred, had Type 1 diabetes, they were living in the middle of nowhere. But after Fred's symptoms suddenly became life-threatening, Emma found herself sitting next to the pilot in the cockpit of an RFDS plane, with her gravely ill son on board
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#88 Ella was 35 weeks pregnant & driving an outback truck when her waters broke!
25 Apr 2024Ella and Dave, transport company owners, embarked on a final trip from Perth to Kimberley before their baby's arrival. Unexpectedly, at 35 weeks pregnant, Ella's waters broke in the remote outback, far from medical help. They faced an urgent journey to reach the nearest hospital
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Leia's Story
22 Apr 2024As a fly-in fly-out HR professional for 15 years, Leia Piccoli had witnessed many mining colleagues require an RFDS retrieval in a medical emergency. She had never expected to need the service herself.
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#87 How did Gayle lose the use of both arms in a farm-accident?
19 Apr 2024After Gayle's life-changing accident on a remote cattle station in Queensland, they have had to adapt to a new life, despite one arm being amputated and the other being paralysed
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Parker's Story
16 Apr 2024Last year the Galloway family were holidaying in Esperance when they were faced with every parent’s worst nightmare.
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#86 Barry was hanging upside down from his seat belt and the ute was on its roof
11 Apr 2024Barry was travelling with some work colleagues on his way back to Mount Isa from a remote mine site when the driver lost control of the ute, it flipped and Barry was left hanging from his seat belt. When he released his belt he fell directly on his head, instantly felt pain and saw stars.
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#85 How do you manage a Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis in remote Australia?
05 Apr 2024Danielle and Boyd Keenan live with their two young daughters, August (Augie), 11, and Willa, 9, in Broken Hills, NSW. When Augie was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes the remote city they love was a long way away from diabetes treatment.
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#84 How did the remote SA township of Marla come to be?
29 Mar 2024Jane Oakley-Lohm is a central figure in the story of Marla, a remote township in South Australia that sprung up from a roadhouse created in the 1980's.
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Primary care access vital for better health outcomes in remote Australia
27 Mar 2024The second annual Royal Flying Doctor Service ‘Best for the Bush, Rural and remote Health Base Line’ report was released today.
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Saturday night snakebite
25 Mar 2024For long-haul truck driver Lee, Saturday nights are usually spent behind the wheel on lonely stretches of highway, but one such night in March took a turn, when he had to be flown from to Perth by the Flying Doctor.
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#83 Tom collapsed onto his steering wheel and stopped breathing
23 Mar 2024Have we become too complacent about snakes? Tom had been parked on the side of a rural road when he stepped out to greet his wife. He felt a small sting or bite on his foot, and bent down to see a small snake disappearing under his car.
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Ella's outback dash
21 Mar 2024Ella Reindler is one of very few pregnant women who can say they drove themself to hospital behind the wheel of a prime mover.
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National Close the Gap Day
20 Mar 2024At the RFDS we are committed to contributing to the “Close the Gap” campaign to improve both health outcomes and access to culturally appropriate health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
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