Who We Are
What We Do
First Minutes Matter
With more than 40 years of service in the area, LifeFlight is proud to be a vital part of the Brisbane and Gold Coast regions, providing leading aeromedical care to communities, families and individuals who need it most.
Our story began on the Gold Coast, where our current CEO, Ashley van de Velde, first sparked the vision for what has become LifeFlight. In 1981, Mr van de Velde and the local specialists he worked alongside would fly from a base at Carrara and later Bilinga to Southport Hospital, pick up an emergency doctor from the roof of the building or the hockey field across the road and then be on their way to the scene of an accident within 15 minutes of getting the call. Accelerate forward to now and LifeFlight is the most advanced aeromedical service in the southern hemisphere, serving communities across Queensland and the world.
Our base in Brisbane is where a considerable amount of action happens, with both our local rescue helicopter and air ambulance jets operating from here. From our Brisbane base our helicopters can be airborne within 15 minutes of receiving the call for help and our jets within 90 minutes. It’s all about connecting patients to the best medical and rescue specialists, no matter where they are.
Gold Coast remains the home of LifeFlight Foundation, the trusted fundraising and philanthropic arm of LifeFlight. Like any charity, we rely on the generosity of others, to serve our community with the highest possible standard of care.
In 2024, we launched The LifeFlight Clive Berghofer Maintenance Centre at Archerfield. This is a brand-new facility houses our team of engineers who maintain our entire fleet, ensuring we’re always ready to respond.
As a team of passionate and experienced community leaders, our Regional Advisory Committee across the Gold Coast help support and guide our mission.
Gold Coast surfing champion, Mark Richardson’s Bali holiday turned critical when he faced severe internal bleeding and a shortage of A-negative blood. LifeFlight sprang into action, providing four life-saving units of blood over four crucial hours.
Given the complexity of Mark’s case and exhausted local options, evacuating him to Australia was the safest choice and thanks to our rapid care, Mark was successfully transported back to Australia and began his recovery.
Throughout the year there are many LifeFlight and community-led events.
Stay up to date with how you can get involved in your region.
Our fleet of helicopters and jets provide emergency medicine and protection where others can’t. We perform a unique and vital function in the healthcare system, connecting you to the best medical specialists, no matter where you are. Explore our base locations to learn more about our impact in your community.
Check out our bases across Queensland and learn more about their capabilities.
We acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Custodians of the land on which we serve and fly, and pay respect to their Elders past, present and future.
