At 93-years-old, Helen has spent almost her entire life alongside the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
Born just four years after the Flying Doctor completed its first flight, she has watched healthcare in regional, rural and remote Queensland gradually evolve.
Growing up on a cattle station about 314 kilometres east of Birdsville, Helen knew what it meant to live hours away from anything.
Life in the outback meant school lessons were done over the radio, weekends were spent riding her horse, and the nearest doctor was a day’s drive away. Living in a remote Queensland came with challenges, but the Flying Doctor made it possible.
"The only way to get to a hospital without the Flying Doctor was to drive, but the roads were terrible and it would take a whole day," Helen said.
"And sometimes it was fatal because people just couldn't get there in time."
For families like Helen's, the RFDS Medical Chest was a lifeline. Introduced back in the 1940s, these medical chests continue to provide emergency medicines and supplies to people isolated from healthcare services like a pharmacy or GP.
"That's all we had," Helen said.
"Everything was numbered, everything labelled. When you spoke to the doctor, they could tell you exactly what to take or what to do from the medical chest."
Over the decades, the RFDS has grown from a small network of medical chests to create a mantle of safety for remote Queenslanders.
Today, more than 1,300 RFDS Medical Chests are located at stations, communities, mines, marine vessels, police stations, caravan parks and clinics.
Guided by an RFDS doctor, families can access medical supplies from the chest while waiting to see whether further medical care is needed. In the past year alone, RFDS (Queensland Section) also delivered more than 27,360 remote consultation calls through its telehealth service.
For RFDS Telehealth Medical Lead Dr Anna Bowen, that connection between a doctor on the phone and a medical chest on hand can be life-saving. Anna has seen firsthand the vital role the chests play before an aircraft, ambulance or clinician arrives to an emergency.
“There was a small child who had anaphylaxis after having a bad reaction to something, and over the phone I taught her mum how to give her a shot of adrenaline from the medical chest, which saved her life,” Dr Anna said.
“The ambulance was an hour and a half away, and in the meantime that parent was able to deliver life-saving care from her medical chest. She was so thankful to be able to do that.”
That same commitment of care continues to guide the RFDS today. From its humble beginnings, the service has grown into providing aeromedical retrievals, primary health care, mental health, telehealth, medical chests and oral health services, helping ensure people in remote communities can access care when and where they need it.
For Helen, relying on the medical chest and the Flying Doctor was simply a normal part of life. And while much has changed, Helen’s belief in its importance remains unwavering.
"The RFDS must never disappear," she said.
“It gives people a huge sense of security that they can get help within a short time.”
That belief inspired Helen to leave a gift to the RFDS (Queensland Section) in her Will, helping ensure the service can continue supporting communities for generations to come.
And Helen also knows people in remote Queensland need the Flying Doctor today.
From telehealth to Medical Chests, from flights to emergency care, your donation can help put the right tools in the right hands, so distance doesn’t stand in the way of someone getting the care they urgently need.
Please donate today to help make sure people across remote Queensland can continue to count on the Flying Doctor, wherever they are, just as they have for nearly a century.
