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RFDS Rio Tinto Life Flight Jet becomes a familiar face in north west

The Royal Flying Doctor Service was very busy last night with eight patients needing attention in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions.
The crews on the RFDS turbo prop aricraft at Derby and Port Hedland were both busy (one was transferring a patient with appendicitis from Paraburdoo), so the Rio Tinto Life Flight Jet proved an ideal way to move three patients quickly.

Rio Tinto Life Flight flew from Perth to Kununurra, arriving at 2300 to pick up a woman with acute kidney problems then transferred her to Broome Hospital.

While in Broome, a man on life support was picked up and the Jet then flew on to Port Hedland to retrieve a patient with an acute cardiac condition. These two patients were flown back to Perth for specialist treatment, arriving at 0645 this morning.  

RFDS Medical Director, Stephen Langford, said that Rio Tinto Life Flight was proving it was worth its weight in gold in the north west of the state. “The Jet enabled the transfer of these three patients from the Kimberley and Pilbara in a round trip which saved a total of 18 hours, compared to flying the same patients on turbo prop aircraft in separate trips,” he said.