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The new Rio Tinto Life Flight jet took to the skies over Western Australia in October 2009, with the help of mining company, Rio Tinto, which will contribute $5 million to the project over three years.

Rio Tinto Life Flight  is a Hawker 800XP² aircraft, which was purchased in the USA, rebadged and outfitted with a customised Lifeport PLUS aeromedical configuration.

“It is the only permanently configured aeromedical jet anywhere in Australia with the capacity to carry three stretcher patients and up to three clinical staff at once,” said RFDS Western Operations’ Medical Director, Dr Stephen Langford.

“The jet can fly non-stop from any location in Western Australia to Perth in approximately three hours and it can undertake interstate transfers without refuelling stops in most circumstances,” he said.

“It can also undertake faster Flying Doctor retrievals from offshore locations, such as the Australian territories of Cocos and Christmas Islands, and has the advantage of a dedicated aeromedical layout to help us treat and care for almost any patient.”

“Seriously ill babies also benefit as this jet can easily load and carry the specialised Mansell Neocots used by Princess Margaret Hospital and, when requested, we will be able to take babies to specialist medical care interstate.

“Importantly, the addition of the Rio Tinto Life Flight jet to the State’s disaster response resources enhances WA’s capacity to respond quickly and effectively to mass casualty incidents, of which we’ve had several in recent times,“ Dr Langford said.

RFDS transfers are decided on the basis of medical need and take place free of charge to the patient.  

Support for the new RFDS Rio Tinto Life Flight jet service

• The WA Government underwrites the cost of the operation by up to S1 million per year for the first three years using funds from the Royalties for Regions program. 
  
• The development of the Rio Tinto Life Flight jet service is also being backed by the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Victoria, which will raise $3 million dollars over three years to support the purchase of the jet.
  
• The RFDS Victorian Section and its donors have strongly supported the work of the Flying Doctor in the north of WA since the early 1930s when Australia’s second Flying Doctor base was established in the Kimberley and needed financial backing.
  
• The RFDS Flying 1000 fundraising group in Western Australia has also pledged to raise $750,000 towards the purchase of all the portable medical equipment required on board the jet. In association with Heath Development Company, which built and sold an RFDS charity home at Albany, the Flying 1000 has already raised almost $500,000 towards their target.
  
• As Jandakot Airport does not have the facilities to cater for the housing or maintenance of jet aircraft, Rio Tinto Life Flight is based at a new Maroomba Airlines complex under construction at Perth Airport.

Background Facts and Figures

• Rio Tinto Life Flight is expected to transport about 500 patients in its first 12 months of operation.
  
• RFDS transfers are free of charge to the patient. Rio Tinto Life Flight is the latest addition to the RFDS’ fleet of 13 turboprop aircraft, which includes single engine Pilatus PC-12s.
  
• Rio Tinto Life Flight is a Hawker 800XP2, with a normal cruise speed of 440 knots, a range of 2,600 nautical miles and a ceiling of 41,000 ft.
  
• In 2008-09, the RFDS in WA transported 6,616 patients and flew more than 5.7 million kilometres (more than 7 times to the moon and back) across a State that covers about one third of the nation’s landmass. A total of 31,535 WA patients had contact with the RFDS through clinics, a range of medical services and its Telehealth medical advice line.
  
• Across Australia, the RFDS transports around 36,000 patients to hospital each year and has contact with more than 260,000 patients annually. It flies over 23 million kilometres (about 21 times to the moon and back).
  
• Over the past five years the RFDS’ workload has increased 35% in the Pilbara and Kimberley and 25% in both the South West and Great Southern regions. The Mid-West has increased by 15%.
  
• The Kimberley, the most distant region from Perth, remains the largest regional source of patients State-wide, with more than 1018 emergency cases per year. 
  
• The Royal Flying Doctor Service in WA has 191 staff at its bases at Jandakot, Port Hedland, Derby, Kalgoorlie and Meekatharra.

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