RACQ LifeFlight Rescue has always been a critical link for seriously ill and injured people living or visiting regional and remote Queensland who require access to higher levels of care.
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, RACQ LifeFlight Rescue is the lifeline between regional Queenslanders and lifesaving treatment if they become seriously ill with the virus.
As our country faces its biggest outbreak since last year, RACQ LifeFlight Rescue will continue to work with Queensland Health and Retrieval Services Queensland, to manage demand for the service.
From the day the COVID-19 virus breached our shores, LifeFlight hasn’t missed a beat, stepping up to protect Queenslanders with modified helicopters, new safety procedures, and now with fully vaccinated frontline medical crew and aircrew.
Over the past 12 months, the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Air Ambulance Jet service has successfully and safely completed 13 COVID-19 related missions, transporting 22 suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients on behalf of Queensland Health. In total, approximately 5% of all RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Air Ambulance missions over the past 12 months have been COVID-19 related transfers.
Presently, the Queensland Health model to respond to COVID-19 is centred around a network of designated COVID-19 hospitals in South-East Queensland, providing specialised treatment for patients requiring hospitalisation due to the virus.
Regional hospitals, who are not designated COVID-19 hospitals, are prohibited from treating patients with the virus and must transfer them to one of the five designated COVID-19 hospitals in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast or Gold Coast. Cairns Base Hospital is the only regional designated hospital.
With the insidious Delta variant of the virus, which we know can be transmitted by fleeting contact, the situation can change very quickly.
Our hope is that Queensland can become COVID-19 safe again, however if anyone becomes seriously ill with the virus, RACQ LifeFlight Rescue is ready to respond with the fastest, safest, and most direct transfer to specialist care for regional Queensland.
