Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Went on a really interesting tour today with the American Women's Club, to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.  They have been in existence for 75 years, and provide medical service to all remote areas of WA, via prop planes and the very recent addition of a Lear jet.  There is no fee for this service, and in many instances it is the difference between life and death, since medical centers are so far away from most places in WA.  The state comprises one third of the entire continent, so the area is huge and medical facilities are basically non-existent in the outback.   The service they provide is free of charge to anyone living or traveling in AU, and they have something like 35 doctors, 40 nurses and 35 pilots on call.

We got to see some of the prop planes they use, and a flight actually came in while we were there, with the patient being immediately loaded into a waiting ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital.  We went inside a simulator, and the plane is literally filled with medical equipment, making it a challenging place to be if you're claustrophobic.