There is certainly no shortage of local knowledge, experience and diversity of specialist medical skills among the ranks of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) in northern South Australia thanks to the decades of combined service by Doctors Thomas, Miller, Ballard and Killcross.
While many remote and rural communities struggle to attract – and retain – medical practitioners, RFDS Central Operations is extremely proud of its ‘awesome foursome’ who have provided a remarkable 55 years of combined service to the organisation and the communities it serves throughout the northern and north-western areas of the state.
Backed by the dedicated and highly skilled team of RFDS nurses, pilots and tasking coordinators in Port Augusta, the four doctors work as a team to provide the 24 hours, seven days a week emergency medical and primary healthcare services to an area of 840,000 square kilometres.
Typically, their role includes (but is not limited to) medical diagnosis and treatment on emergency evacuation and retrieval flights, regular
GP health clinic flights to rural and remote townships, stations, mining and aboriginal communities, as well as the thousands of consultations to patients over the radio, telephone – even email.
Dr Ash Thomas, who late last year was recognised for his milestone of 20 years of service to RFDS Central Operations, puts the foursome’s achievement down to ‘professional interest’, whereby each of the doctors has his own specialty field of medicine (obstetrics, adolescent health, anaesthetics etc) which ultimately complement each other.
And over his 20 years, he had witnessed some significant changes within the RFDS, locally and across the organisation.
"Technology advancements have improved the way we do things," Dr Thomas says. "The aircraft have changed. The Pilatus PC-12 is much faster, smoother and there is more space for medical crew and patient."
"Another considerable change has been an increase in doctors from two to four. With more resources we have improved our primary health programs, and can visit remote communities more frequently."
Dr Stephen Ballard, who has been working for the RFDS at Port Augusta for 12 years, continues to enjoy the challenge.
"There is independence, variety, flexibility and a degree of unpredictability in working for the RFDS – each day is different, and you never know what is around the corner," Dr Ballard says.
For Dr Andy Killcross, who joined the team seven years ago, one of the most satisfying and privileged parts of his job is the opportunity to form long-lasting relationships with many of the clients and their families.
"In the majority of cases we will be well acquainted with several generations of each family, and in some cases we have delivered their children or grandchildren," Dr Killcross says.
Dr Alistair Miller, a RFDS veteran of 18 years, has no intention of leaving the organisation any time soon.
"I enjoy the thrill of flying to my job and working as part of a team. We would not be able to effectively administer to the needs of people in the bush without the pilots and nurses – we rely on team work," Dr Miller says.
And when asked what makes these four medicos so dedicated to the cause, Dr Thomas replies: "the patients and staff have made it what it is. I believe an organisation is only as good as its people, and the RFDS is a fantastic organisation!"
