A routine flight in Arnhem Land can change in an instant when MAF is called in for a medical emergency, and sometimes the emergencies come back-to-back, such as when pilot Mel Higgins flew two separate medical retrieval flights within a couple of hours.
“It was a very busy day,” said Mel. “I just happened to be on the ground for both scenarios – neither of them were planned, but both perfect timing.”
For her first retrieval, Mel flew a charter to Dhalinbuy homeland. The flight was uneventful, but a passenger had a seizure upon landing.
He was treated and stabilised by Laynhapuy Health nurses on clinic in the homeland and then put back on the plane for the return flight to Gove Airport, from where he was transported to hospital by St John Ambulance paramedics.
Mel had a brief break and then headed out for her second flight of the day, a routine teacher pick-up from the Gangan homeland.
Enroute, she was alerted by another pilot to a potential emergency in the homeland.
“I initially chatted with a Careflight pilot who hadn't been able to get in due to a storm,” Mel said, describing her second medical retrieval flight for the day.
“So, I had a suspicion that there was probably someone in Gangan who was quite sick if they needed Careflight.
“But it wasn’t till we actually landed and got on the ground, which was 30 minutes later, after the storm had passed, that I found out that they needed someone to help take a passenger back to Gove, who had been quite unwell.”
A visitor from Gapuwiyak attending a funeral in Gangan had been sick for four days with a respiratory illness, and her situation was deteriorating by the hour despite care from Laynhapuy Health nurses Ceb Isherwood and Trey Chance, who were on homeland clinic duty.
And then MAF was able to come in and save the day.
“I had to start her on some oxygen and IV antibiotics, inhalers, and just monitor her closely,” said Ceb.
They called in an aeromedical retrieval, but the larger aircraft was unable to land because of low-lying smoke from local ‘burning off’, and a storm that had lashed the homeland with heavy rain and lightning.
With the original plan falling through, the nurses contacted MAF.
“And then MAF was able to come in and save the day,” said Ceb.
Smoke and the dissipating storm still obscured the airstrip upon Mel’s approach, but after biding time with a couple of wide circuits, the storm moved enough for her to land safely.
Mel did some quick fuel and weight calculations to make sure she could safely carry the three extra passengers. She removed a seat in the Cessna Caravan, and the patient was helped onboard by the Laynhapuy Health nurses and flown to Gove Airport, where St John Ambulance paramedics were waiting to take her to hospital.
Emergency medical retrieval flights such as these test an organisation’s operational agility, but with staff being willing and aircraft being able, help is only a radio call away.
“I'm always happy to jump in and help whenever we can, to help these people who are living in such remote places and can't get access to the healthcare they need without using planes,” Mel said.
“And when other aircraft can’t get in, that’s when MAF comes in and we are able to help. So that’s a really significant thing.”
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From January 2024 to the end of Oct 2025, MAF in Arnhem Land carried out a total of 692 medical retrieval flights on behalf of NT Health Low Acuity Patient Transport.