When Mathilde Enevoldsen left Denmark to work for LifeFlight, it was minus 15 degrees and snowing.
Now, she’s landed smack bang in the middle of a sweltering Australian summer, ready to help North Queensland communities as one of LifeFlight’s newest critical care doctors.
“I’m really looking forward to another climate even though they tell me I’m going to boil alive up there. It’s going to be interesting,” she said.
She will join Dr Shreysani Sharma, Dr Kurt Thiele, Dr Amy Hewitt and Dr Hugh McConville at LifeFlight’s Townsville base to work on board the Challenger 604 air ambulance jet and the Queensland Government Air (QGAir) AW139 helicopter.
Dr Enevoldsen studied at Aarhus University in Denmark and afterwards worked as a consultant in critical care, intensive care, anaesthesiology and road transport retrieval work.
She first thought of working in aeromedical retrievals 16 years ago, when she worked at a Mount Isa cattle station.
“The day before I got there, the farmer I was working for was trampled by a cow,” the new retrieval registrar said.
“He came and picked me up and he was definitely in a lot of pain. We had to take him to the hospital. Turns out, he had broken all the ribs on one side.
“Luckily, he was able to go by car, but it got me thinking. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to work for the helicopter services here in Australia.”
The new critical care doctor said she was excited to meet Australia’s unique fauna.
“I really want to see some of the fluffy animals, like a kangaroo and koala,” she said.
“I’m not looking forward to snakes or spiders or anything with more than four legs.
“Nothing venomous or anything that can kill me. I’m not looking forward to that part.”
Dr Enevoldsen is one of 33 doctors about to head out and support Queenslanders from tropical Far North Queensland to the red-earth plains of the Maranoa region.
She had a week of intensive aeromedical training at the LifeFlight Training Academy at Brisbane Airport in preparation for her new role.
From Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) and sea survival to rescue winching and clinical scenarios, the program put the new doctors through their paces to get them mission ready from day one.
During HUET, the retrieval registrars were taken through multiple scenarios to simulate a helicopter crash into water and how to safely exit the aircraft.
LifeFlight HUET Manager Mick Dowling said the specialised training provided the necessary skills to aid the doctors while working on board a helicopter.
“Our mission is to have the doctors skilled with the confidence to be able to deal with any aviation situation that they may be faced with,” he said.
“The common response we get from them after the completion is that it was challenging and uncomfortable, but overall, an amazing experience.
“It’s highly unlikely the aircraft will be required to be ditched into the water, however all crew are trained should they face that situation.”
After being tumbled upside down through the water and learning how to survive out on the open water, the doctors were taken through winching procedures.
LifeFlight Deputy Chief Aircrew Officer Todd Seymour said the winch training prepared them for the unpredictability of the role.
“The doctors learn multiple exercises. They learn how to be winched out of the aircraft by themselves, how to be winched out of the aircraft with a rescue crewman or paramedic and learn how to accompany a stretcher into the aircraft,” he said.
“They’re going to remote areas across Queensland and they could be in dense bushland or out to sea off a cruise ship, so it’s important they’re delivered the training they need to perform these roles to a high and safe standard.
“No two days are the same for us at LifeFlight.”
The doctors also had their clinical skills pushed to the limit at the Queensland Combined Emergency Services Academy, with realistic simulated scenarios such as a multi-vehicle collision.
The new recruits were also taught how to extract a patient from a road accident by Queensland Fire Department (QFD) personnel.
LifeFlight employs more than 180 medical professionals, including doctors, nurses and paramedics, making it Australia’s largest employer of aeromedical doctors.
The Townsville aeromedical crew airlifted 598 patients during FY25 – 22.8 per cent more than in 2024 – flew 213 missions and clocked up more than 1,100 flight hours.
LifeFlight came to the aid of 8,838 Queenslanders in 2025 – 4.2 per cent higher than the previous year.
The majority of LifeFlight critical care doctors’ work is performed on behalf of Queensland Health, tasked by Retrieval Services Queensland, within Queensland Ambulance Service.
