CareFlight

CareFlight is an air medical service headquartered in Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.

CareFlight
FoundedMay 1986 (1986-05)
TypeNot-for-profit organisation
Legal statusCharity
PurposeAeromedical and primary health care
HeadquartersWestmead, New South Wales, Australia
Chairman
Andrew Refshauge
CEO
Mick Frewen
Websitecareflight.org.au

History

In 1987, CareFlight became the first emergency helicopter service in NSW to be on 24-hour duty.
In 1991, CareFlight’s 2000th patient, six month-old Nathan Isedale, is flown to Camperdown Children’s Hospital after being admitted to Bowral Hospital with viral pneumonia.
In 1996, CareFlight is the first Australian medical team to use an intra-aortic balloon pump during a helicopter patient transfer.
In 2000, CareFlight launched second helicopter operations with the Central West emergency helicopter in Orange.
In 2007, CareFlight conducted their first International Air Ambulance mission.
In 2009, CareFlight established helicopter operations in Darwin.
In 2011, CareFlight launched its MediSim trauma care workshops, designed for local emergency services personnel and volunteers.
In 2018, CareFlight became the first Australian aeromedical service to routinely carry plasma.
In 2020, CareFlight was awarded the inter-hospital patient transport jet contract by the NT Government.
CareFlight CEO Mick Frewen with CareFlight's H145 helicopter, which launched in 2021.

CareFlight was founded in Sydney, Australia in May 1986 as an aeromedical charity. Its mission is to save lives, speed recovery and serve the community. Since conducting their first mission in their sole helicopter, the Squirrel AS350B, in July 1986,[1] CareFlight has grown to include helicopters, turbo-prop and jet aeroplanes which fly on both domestic and international missions. In 2019, around 7,900 patients were treated by CareFlight.[2]

Domestic Missions

CareFlight conducts daily missions across Australia, treating and transferring patients from accident scenes and between hospitals.

Major domestic missions

In December 1998, CareFlight rescued seven sailors from the stricken yacht Business Post Naiad during wild storms in the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.[3] The CareFlight crew of that mission later received the Prince Philip Award.[4]

In January 2003, CareFlight attended the Waterfall train crash in which seven people were killed. CareFlight medical teams triaged, treated and transported the injured.[5]

International Missions

Since their first international retrieval mission in 1990 from Penang,[6] CareFlight has been bringing injured or sick Australians overseas, back home.

Major international missions

In 2001, CareFlight played a role in the repatriation of victims of the Bali bombing in Denpasar Bali.[7]

After the attempted assassination of East Timor's President Jose Ramos Horta in 2008, CareFlight International flew the President from Dili to Darwin, Australia for medical treatment.[8] CareFlight's clinical team comprising a specialist doctor, two nurses, pilot and first officer flew to New Zealand from Sydney on Thursday 12 December to retrieve two patients who had suffered critical injuries in the 2019 Whakaari / White Island eruption.[9][10]

Research and Innovation

Since 1986, CareFlight has invested in clinical, aviation, logistics and business planning research projects.

In 1998, CareFlight introduced their specially designed Stretcher Bridge the first portable intensive care module in 1998. The unit incorporates a ventilator, oxygen and suction capability, monitors and infusion pumps. The development of this concept has shaped and simplified the cabin fit of subsequent air medical craft, both rotary and fixed wing.[11]

CareFlight designed and conducted the Head Injury Retrieval Trial (HIRT), the world's first randomised clinical trial to evaluate the benefits of rapidly transporting a doctor to patients with head injuries. Over the six-year period of the study (2006-2011), CareFlight responded to more than 1,500 patients.[12] Most patients had been involved in motor vehicle accidents (the leading cause of brain injury from traumatic head injury), falls and other workplace accidents.[12]

The HIRT research data indicated a 16 per cent reduction in deaths (45 percent to 29 percent) when unconscious patients are treated by a doctor.[12][13] Former CareFlight Medical Director and Chief HIRT Investigator, Dr Alan Garner OAM, presented the results of this ground-breaking research at the 2012 International Conference for Emergency Medicine in Dublin.[13]

Following the HIRT research project that examined different systems of care, CareFlight commenced the PHANTOM brain oxygen monitoring project that explored the potential to deliver better care to the individual. The Pre-hospital Assessment of Non-invasive Tissue Oximetry Monitoring (PHANTOM) research project was launched in 2013 to test a new technique for early detection and treatment of brain injury.[14]

Research conducted by CareFlight's flight nurse, Jodie Mills and published in 2014–15 has been used to help inform how psychiatric services can be better tailored to the needs of remote communities. The research, based on data from 617 cases over two years, provided a number of insights ranging from crew composition to pre-flight and in-flight sedation.[15]

In April 2018, CareFlight became the first and only civilian aeromedical service in Australia to perform pre-hospital plasma transfusions as part of their rapid response helicopter service. This was described by clinicians as a ‘quantum leap’ for emergency treatment that experts say, in certain cases, could save one in three people who would otherwise die.[16]

In 2019, CareFlight completed a research study[17] looking at new technology for warming blood for use in pre-hospital blood transfusions. The first stage of the research confirmed the benefits of warming blood in emergency transfusions, and the second stage tested different devices that can be used to rapidly warm blood in just minutes during the procedure. This research study, partially funded by the Medevac Foundation in the United States, was conducted in partnership with the cardiac anaesthesia services and blood bank at The Children's Hospital at Westmead.[18]

Awards and Contracts

CareFlight receives the 1998 Award for Aviation Safety Excellence in the AOC category.[6]

In June 2011, the Northern Territory Government announced the award of a ten-year Top End Medical Retrieval Service contract to CareFlight.[19][20] In October of the same year, CareFlight became Australia's only aeromedical provider to be awarded the prestigious European Aeromedical Institute (EURAMI) Accreditation for three years, Australia's only provider to hold this.[21]

In April 2013, the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) presented CareFlight with the 2013 Excellence in Community Service Award for their MediSim program (AAMS award).[22]

In December 2019, The Reputation Institute named CareFlight as the most reputable charity in Australia based on measures of trust, admiration, respect and overall esteem.[23][24]

CareFlight Today

Today, CareFlight brings their medical expertise in emergency trauma, pre-hospital and remote medicine to patients using a fleet of helicopters, jet aircraft, turbo-prop planes and road vehicles, across Australia. In Sydney, CareFlight's rapid response helicopter, with a specialist doctor and critical care paramedic on board, attend to critically ill or injured patients performing life-saving treatments including roadside surgery and blood and plasma transfusions.[25]

CareFlight retrieves seriously ill and injured patients from outback Northern Territory using the Top End Rescue Helicopter, turbo prop planes and aeromedical jets as part of the Top End Medical Retrieval Service. CareFlight has operated this service (TEMRS) under an agreement with the Northern Territory Government since 1 January 2013. This agreement followed an open tender in 2011 to provide an integrated aeromedical service in the Top End.[26]

CareFlight has been providing evidence-based, mobile, medical simulation (MediSim) trauma care training to first responders since 2011, and vital paediatric, infant and neonatal assessment and resuscitation knowledge and skills through their Sick and Injured Kids in the Bush workshop since 2017.[6]

CareFlight provides helicopter search and rescue services to organisations such as the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and provides pilots, aircrew and engineers to assist organisations such as New South Wales Rural Fire Service manage bushfire threats. They also provide critical and emergency care trained doctors to New South Wales Ambulance for fixed wing, rotary wing and road ambulance operations.

Seriously ill and injured interstate and internationally are treated and transferred via helicopter, turbo prop aeroplanes and jets. Patients are also transferred using specially modified road transport vehicles for specialist treatment in major hospitals.

Aircraft and Vehicle Fleet

In February 2021, CareFlight launched their Airbus H145 helicopter.[26][27] The H145 was chosen for CareFlight's rapid response helicopter service as it can reach patients in its service area within 15 minutes. Studies have shown that know the sooner clinical interventions begin, the better the outcome for patients.[28]

In April 2021, CareFlight NT launched their G150 Gulfstream G150 jet, Australia's first medical jet capable of transporting critically ill patients from south-east Asia. The G150 can fly 5,300 kilometres at a speed of 1,000 km/h, allowing it to travel from its base in Darwin to Sydney and Melbourne in under four hours.[29]

CareFlight fleet (as of February 2022)
Aircraft In service
BK117 B2 4
Airbus H145 1
Agusta AW139 1
AS350 B2 1
G600 3
PL21 5
Beechjet 400XT 1
8400XP 1
Gulfstream G150 1
B400XP 1
Total 19

Board and Governance

CareFlight's Board monitors and reviews the company's compliance with its statutory obligations ensuring it meets its legal obligations.[30] The Hon Dr Andrew Refshauge MBBS, FAICD is the chairperson of the board. Mick Frewen is the chief executive officer.

Reconciliation Action Plan

CareFlight began its reconciliation journey in 2016, focusing on further developing and strengthening relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, engaging staff and stakeholders in reconciliation, and developing and piloting strategies to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.[31][32]

CareFlight launched their Reconciliation Action Plan in 2017 which outlined their commitment to First Australians and included plans to embed cultural understanding across the organisation.[32]

CareFlight Bears

Introduced to Australia in 1991, the CareFlight Bear has become CareFlight's mascot and represents 25 per cent of their fundraising revenue. Since the first CareFlight Bear, 115 bear types and more than two million bears have been sold generating more than $100 million for CareFlight since 1991.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ History of the NSW Trauma System, website https://aci.health.nsw.gov.au/networks/itim/clinical/trauma_system/history_of_the_nsw_trauma_system
  2. 1 2 CareFlight 2020 Annual Report https://careflight.org/about-us/annual-reports/annual-report-2020/
  3. ↑ Burgess, Julian (11 May 2009). Helman’s story of the Business Post Naiad tragedy. Sail World. Retrieved 25 May 2021 https://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Helmsmans-story-of-the-Business-Post-Naiad-tragedy/-56636?source=google
  4. ↑ “The Prince Philip Helicopter Rescue Award in Air Pilots” in The Honourable Company of Air Pilots. https://www.airpilots.org/about-the-company/trophies-and-awards/award-winners/the-prince-philip-helicopter-rescue-award/
  5. ↑ (1 February 2003) “Nine die in Sydney train crash” in https://www.smh.com.au/national/nine-die-in-sydney-train-crash-20030201-gdg74z.html. Retrieved 25 May 2021
  6. 1 2 3 “30_year_timeline.pdf” in Careflight.org
  7. ↑ Tran MD, Garner A, Morrison I, Sharley P, Griggs W & Xavier C. “The Bali Bombing: Civilian Aeromedical Evacuation.” Medical Journal of Australia 2003 179: 353-6.
  8. ↑ 11 February 2008. “Timor Leste President in critical condition” in China Daily. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-02/11/content_6449094.htm Retrieved 25 May 2021
  9. ↑ “Flying Australians home after disaster” in CareFlight.org https://careflight.org/flying-australians-home-after-disaster/
  10. ↑ Clun, R. & Cunningham, M. (12 December 2019) “Fears of donor skin shortage in Australia as volcano victims arrive for treatment.” https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/first-volcano-victim-arrives-in-melbourne-for-treatment-as-toll-climbs-20191212-p53j81.html Retrieved 25 May 2021
  11. ↑ Wishaw KJ, Munford BJ & Roby HP. “The CareFlight Stretcher Bridge – a compact mobile intensive care module.” Anaesthesia & Intensive Care 1990 18 (2):234-45
  12. 1 2 3 Garner AA, Mann K, Fearnside M, Poynter E, Gebski V. “The Head Injury Retrieval Trial (HIRT): a single-centre randomised controlled trial of physician pre-hospital management of severe blunt head injury compared with management by paramedics only.” Emergency Medicine Journal 2015; doi:10.1136/emermed-2014-204390.
  13. 1 2 14th International Conference on Emergency Medicine - 2012 - Academic Emergency Medicine - Wiley Online Library
  14. ↑ Weatherall A, Garner A, Lovell N, Redmond S, Lee A, Skowno J and Egan J. “Study protocol for the PHANTOM study: prehospital assessment of noninvasive tissue oximetry monitoring.” Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine 2014; 22:57.
  15. ↑ Soomaroo L, Mills JA, Ross MA. “Air Medical Retrieval of Acute Psychiatric Patients.” Air Medical Journal 2014; 33(6):304-308.
  16. ↑ “Provider Profile: CareFlight” AirMed & Rescue 2021; 4: 36-39 https://www.airmedandrescue.com/latest/long-read/provider-profile-careflight
  17. ↑ Milligan J, Lee A, Gill M, Weatherall A, Tetlow C, Garner “A. Performance comparison of improvised prehospital blood warming techniques and a commercial blood warmer.” Injury 2016. DOI: www.injuryjournal.com/article/S0020-1383(16)30209-1/abstract.
  18. ↑ . Weatherall, M. Gill, J. Milligan, C. Tetlow, C. Harris, A. Garner, A. Lee (2019) “Comparison of portable blood-warming devices under simulated pre-hospital conditions: a randomised in-vitro blood circuit study. https://doi.org/10.1111/anae.14680 https://associationofanaesthetists-publications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/anae.14680
  19. ↑ . “CareFlight welcomes new partnership with Territory generation” CareFlight.org https://careflight.org/news/careflight-welcomes-new-partnership-territory-generation/
  20. ↑ . Middleton, A. (16 June 2011) “CareFlight wins aeromedical service contract” https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-06-16/careflight-wins-aeromedical-service-contract/2760854. Retrieved 25 May 2021
  21. ↑ “CareFlight Air Ambulance” eurami.org https://eurami.org/provider/care-flight-air-ambulance/
  22. ↑ (April 23, 2013) “AAMS announces 2013 Excellence in Community Service Award winner” https://verticalmag.com/press-releases/aams-announces-2013-excellence-in-community-service-award-wi/
  23. ↑ . “2019 most reputable charities revealed” in https://www.thirdsector.com.au/2019-reputable-charities-revealed/ Retrieved 25 May 2021
  24. ↑ “For the first time in almost a decade Australia has a new most reputable charity” Probonoaustralia.com.au https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2019/12/for-the-first-time-in-almost-a-decade-australia-has-a-new-most-reputable-charity/
  25. ↑ Government, Northern Territory (28 June 2021). "Aerial medical services". nt.gov.au.
  26. 1 2 "CareFlight takes delivery of Australia's first EMS H145".
  27. ↑ "CareFlight becomes Australia's first H145 EMS operator - Australian Defence Magazine". www.australiandefence.com.au.
  28. ↑ McMonagle MP, Flabouris A, Parr MJ, Sugrue M. Reducing Time to Urgent Surgery by Transporting Resources to the Trauma Patient. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery. 2007 77: 241–246.
  29. ↑ Bullock, Clara. "New medical jet can transport patients across Australia". AirMed&Rescue.
  30. ↑ “Governance.” Careflight.org https://careflight.org/about-us/governance/
  31. ↑ Reconciliation Action Plan. Careflight.org https://careflight.org/our-work/reconciliation-action-plan/
  32. 1 2 CareFlight launches innovative reconciliation action plan. CareFlight.org CareFlight launches Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan - CareFlight
This article is issued from Offline. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.