The RFDS in SA/NT
Health Education
Training programs include a program to help doctors, nurses and other health professionals keep their emergency medicine skills up to date and a first aid program for people living in rural and remote communities. RFDS Central Operations has a number of programs aimed at helping medical professionals and people living in remote areas to be prepared in the event they face a medical emergency:
Graphic: Jessica McInnes
- Central Australian Retrieval Training (CART) - provides retrieval training specific to the requirements of remote locations where rapid access to tertiary hospitals in not possible. The CART course is provided by senior Retrieval and ED Physicians from Alice Springs Hospital in collaboration with senior staff from RFDS Central Operations and is delivered at the RFDS Alice Springs Base.
- First Aid - RFDS provides First Aid training courses for residents living in remote SA. First Aid training is suitable for people who require the skills and knowledge to provide First Aid in an emergency. It is also suitable for those who require accredited First Aid training to comply with the Approved Code of Practice Occupational Health and First Aid in the Workplace and for those who require recertification for Provide First Aid. The courses offered are Provide First Aid (PFA), Basic Emergency Life Support and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.
Training and Clinical Placements
RFDS Central Operations offers electives for medical and nursing students which give them experience of what it's like to work for the RFDS:
- Midwifery Scholarship - Nursing graduates can apply for a limited number of Midwifery Scholarships with RFDS.
- RACGP GP Registrar Program - The GP Registrar position is based with the Port Augusta RFDS Primary Care Team and has been in place since 2003. The GP Registrar is in their PGY3 or advanced trainee term and can undertake either a six or 12 month attachment which is shared with the Quorn Medical Practice. The GP Registrar also works on the remote clinic and 24/7 telehealth roster under the supervision of the RFDS Port Augusta medical practitioners. For information please contact the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) at: http://bit.ly/1gaTwKC
Graphic: Ride Along Student Bethany Frith
Undergraduate Clinical Placements
- Ride-Along Program – This program provides medical and nursing students attending universities in Adelaide, who are members of their respective university Rural Health Club, with the chance to spend a weekend day with the aeromedical service of the RFDS from bases in either Adelaide or Port Augusta. More than 1,000 students have taken part in the program since 1999. The program is run jointly between RFDS Central Operations and the Rural Doctors Workforce Agency. Pictured right is Bethany Frith a UniSA Nursing student who, in 2014, was the program's 1000th participant.
- Medical Student Electives - Medical students are eligible for a four or six week placement with the RFDS Primary Care team in Port Augusta with the opportunity to take part in remote GP clinic visits and routine and emergency aeromedical evacuations and transfers.
