When RFDS medical officer Dr Andrew Bai received a call about a man having a suspected cardiac arrest in the outback, his team in Mount Isa raced to retrieve him.
Before the phone call had even ended, RFDS Aeromedical Pilot, Brady Thrift, and RFDS Flight Nurse (midwifery), Jenay Scannell, had prepared the aircraft for take-off.
The patient, Craig, was volunteering for a charity car rally when his heart stopped at Tobermory Station, near the Queensland and Northern Territory border.
“I can remember leaning up against the mudguard of a car trailer before I lost consciousness,” Craig said.
“Fortunately for me, one of the participants in the rally was walking past at the time and saw me hit the ground.
“He knew that I was in some trouble and raised the alarm.”
Craig was a 13-hour drive from the emergency cardiac care he needed in Townsville, so his only hope of survival was the Flying Doctor.
Thanks to the quick thinking of the event support crew, Craig was connected to a defibrillator and oxygen, and a team of six people alternated in performing CPR on him.
When the Flying Doctor landed, Craig had a pulse, but an ECG confirmed he had suffered a massive heart attack.
Without hesitation, the crew loaded Craig into the aircraft and liaised with cardiac specialists at Townsville University Hospital to ensure an ambulance and theatre were available for him with no delays.
Mid-flight, Craig’s blood pressure and heart dropped to the point he was on the verge of having another cardiac arrest. But Dr Andrew moved fast to inject adrenaline to keep Craig’s heart beating.
“For the first time in my career with the RFDS, I requested that the ambulance be ready with lights and sirens when we landed. There was no time to lose,” Dr Andrew said.
Luckily, Craig was discharged from the hospital two weeks later with no lasting effects from his cardiac event, apart from six fractured ribs and sternum from the CPR, which saved his life.
“There’s no way I would have received the treatment as quickly as I did if it wasn’t for the RFDS,” Craig said.
In Australia, only 12% of patients who have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survive.
“If it wasn’t for the RFDS, I wouldn’t be here.”
RFDS Flight Nurse, Jenay said, “Not many people survive a cardiac arrest out of the hospital in metropolitan areas”
“For Craig to be in the middle of the outback with such a fantastic outcome is a testament to the vitality of the services that the RFDS provides.
“This story demonstrates our RFDS motto in delivering the finest care to the furthest corner."
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