Medical Practitioners
RETRIEVAL CONSULTANTS & REGISTRARS
Our highly skilled clinical teams are specially trained to respond to a wide range of medical emergencies and provide critical care during aeromedical retrievals. Retrieval Consultants have additional training in emergency, trauma, intensive care and anesthesia, and are trained to recognise and respond to medical, surgical and traumatic emergencies in remote locations.
They work alongside RFDS Rural Generalists, Flight Nurses and Pilots to provide critical aeromedical care to patients on the ground and enroute to hospital – as well as giving crucial immediate telehealth advice, prescribing emergency medications from our remote Medical Chests and coordinating with hospitals to ensure the best location for treatment.
In addition to our aeromedical retrieval services, we also provide telehealth support and medical advice to remote communities and healthcare providers.
With a focus on care, safety, efficiency and excellence in patient care, our Medical & Retrieval teams are instrumental in ensuring remote and isolated communities have access to the medical care they need, when they need it.
We also are a training provider for both medical students with the University of Adelaide and University of Tasmania, as well as for doctors in specialty training.
We are proudly accredited to train registrars enrolled in the RACGP, ACRRM, ACEM and ANZCA national training colleges.
RURAL GENERALISTS
Rural Generalists are multi-skilled medical professionals trained to provide a broad range of healthcare services, including general practice, emergency medicine, obstetrics and more. They care for all ages and serve as a consistent ‘whole-of-life’ care provider for patients seeking a comprehensive medical home across months and years.
Rural Generalists (RGs) at the RFDS join a team that combines the experience of RGs with that of Retrieval Consultants, together providing primary care, emergency aeromedical care and telemedicine – a uniquely supported environment for RGs and senior GP trainees alike.
The RFDS Primary Health Care Service is delivered by a team of RGs, ACRRM and RACGP Registrars, nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals. Comprehensive health services are delivered by a combination of telephone consultations, scheduled fly-in clinics and through permanent RFDS Community Health Services (staffed by Remote Area Nurses).
RGs also provide emergency telehealth consultations to both patients and remote area clinicians (such as RANs and mine site paramedics) and low-to-moderate-acuity emergency aeromedical care collaboratively with our highly skilled flight nursing team. High-acuity retrieval cases are additionally supported by a team of Retrieval Consultants, providing additional critical care advice both on call and in person.
