LifeFlight’s newest Sunshine Coast-based doctor is an adrenaline junkie eager to dive into the next stage of his aeromedical career.
Doctor Tim Case recently underwent a week of intensive aeromedical training at the LifeFlight Training Academy at Brisbane Airport to prepare for his new role at LifeFlight.
Dr Case, who enjoys diving, caving, skiing and mountain biking, has extensive experience, which includes working in military pre-hospital emergency care in the UK as an Army Reserve Officer and on the New South Wales Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS).
“I really loved the challenge of starting your day with no idea what you were going to do and then having to problem solve on the fly to get a patient out of a tricky situation,” Dr Case said.
“You are still doing the same medicine, but you are doing it in a completely different environment. It’s at the side of the road, in a rural hospital – you never know what’s going to happen day-to-day.”
Dr Case said working on an aeromedical helicopter demands teamwork.
“You’re so reliant on your little team of four or five people,” Dr Case said.
“You train together really intensively, we all know what each other is thinking, and you can rely on each other to do what’s best.”
Dr Case wasn’t fazed by being dunked and spun underwater as part of the Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) at LifeFlight’s Training Academy.
“We’ve just done the HUET training, which was great fun, pretty intense experience, but we all did well,” he said.
“They’ve given us some really realistic scenarios with the training, pushed our limits to get outside our comfort zone, and I also got to meet some of the paramedics I’m going to be working with.”
Doctor Case will join Dr Nathan Price and Dr Matthew Wood on the Sunshine Coast in helping Queenslanders access critical care from the sky on board the Sunshine Coast-based helicopter.
He is one of 29 new doctors supporting communities across the state from the southeast to northern Queensland.
LifeFlight HUET Manager Mick Dowling said the rigorous training doctors experienced was part of what attracted doctors to LifeFlight.
“The doctor training that we provide is very competitive, so we get a lot of doctors applying because of the standard of training that they’re receiving from industry experts,” he said.
He said the HUET training was particularly challenging for doctors but was a test many relished.
“When we get the doctors first in for this training, they’re all a little bit nervous and anxious because it’s a situation they haven’t been put into previously,” he said.
“But we’ve got a softly, softly approach that we take to get them through this training and it can be quite challenging.
“It’s great watching them build confidence. They are always willing to jump in and get it done and then they’re moving on to help us out in the community with regard to their doctor skillsets.”
The intensive aeromedical academic and practical training program also included rescue winching and challenging clinical scenarios to ensure the doctors are fully prepared.
LifeFlight Medical Director Dr Jeff Hooper said doctors were prepared for a range of situations they may face in the field such as treating people injured by animals in a paddock or roadside following a motor vehicle crash.
“These are austere environments and are very different to what they are used to in the hospital system,” Dr Hooper said.
“We find the training that we do is really intense, it’s very realistic and it means that the doctors are really ready to go for any challenge they may face in the job.”
LifeFlight is the largest employer of aeromedical doctors in the country with more than 180 medical professionals.
All doctors go through simulated scenarios at the Queensland Combined Emergency Services Academy where they put their clinical skills into practice.
LifeFlight helped 8,497 Queenslanders in the past financial year – 3.9 per cent higher than the previous year.
The Sunshine Coast-based LifeFlight critical care doctors helped 604 people in FY25.
The majority of LifeFlight critical care doctors’ work is performed on behalf of Queensland Health, tasked by Retrieval Services Queensland, within Queensland Ambulance Service.
