MAF medical flights improve patient outcomes and give pilots the opportunity to lend spiritual support to communities.
Most of East Arnhem Land is flat terrain, with only occasional hills and rocky outcrops scattered across the vast plains. However, monsoon rains and flooding tidal rivers keep roads in a perpetual state of disrepair, and a 150-kilometre drive can take more than three hours over pitted dirt tracks.
An MAF flight can cover the same distance in as little as 20 minutes, or a little more than an hour for a round trip to pick up a patient, and the time and physical stress saved can make a significant difference in patient outcomes.
Pilot Mel Higgins describes a typical medical evacuation flight from a remote Yolngu community. The medevac was called in as she was returning to Gove Airport from a scheduled morning flight. Mel landed in Gove, and within an hour she was back in the air.
“I took two paramedics to the homeland, and we picked up a patient who was very sick,” she said.
“He was deteriorating and couldn't walk, couldn't speak properly and hadn't eaten for a couple of days. So yeah, he wasn't in a very good state and needed to come into hospital as soon as he could.”
The young man was transferred to the Northern Territory capital Darwin the next day for further treatment that was not available locally at Nhulunbuy Hospital.
Other medical retrievals happen on an ad hoc basis, in the course of scheduled health clinic flights. Facilities are limited in the small, remote communities, and nurses on clinic may find a patient in need of immediate or further treatment than can be provided on site.
In the hot and humid climate of Arnhem Land, simple cuts and scratches can become a serious health issue if infection sets in, and healthcare workers treat a range of chronic diseases.
To have a plane come in and help means so much, and when we got to the plane, the homeland folk asked ‘Can you pray before we fly?’
“Sometimes, I've flown out with nurses to spend the day or a couple of hours in homelands, and occasionally we will bring people back from there,” said Mel.
“Once, I had a lady who'd been bitten by something on her hand, and she started feeling some pain through it, and her hand was swelling, and it was like, ‘Hey, actually, let's bring you in, to the hospital.’”
In addition to positive healthcare outcomes, Mel said the medical evacuation flights strengthen relationships with the communities, with some Yolngu families turning to MAF pilots for spiritual comfort in times of need.
“I can imagine myself in that situation in the middle of nowhere, with a loved one or myself really sick,” Mel said. “What are your options then? To have a plane come in and help means so much, and when we got to the plane, the homeland folk asked ‘Can you pray before we fly?’
“It's really special to have that connection, and where family are really scared or worried about their loved one and maybe someone's in lots of pain, it’s important to be able to take that time in these time critical situations. You still can have the space in the right moment to pray with and for the people on the flight.”
