Emma Cooper says a first-hand look at LifeFlight’s work in Roma inspired her to sign up as one of the not-for-profit’s newest critical care doctors in the Toowoomba and Maranoa regions.
Doctor Cooper said she was impressed by the professionalism of the LifeFlight aeromedical teams when she was a medical intern in south west Queensland.
“I was in Roma as an intern, and I remember LifeFlight crews coming to pick up our patients,” Dr Cooper said.
“Queensland is such a huge state, and our retrieval services are really the lynchpin to get these patients to the tertiary care that they need and deserve.”
Dr Cooper recently underwent a week of intensive aeromedical training at the LifeFlight Training Academy at Brisbane Airport to prepare for her new role.
She said she was excited about being part of a small mobile flying hospital in the often harsh Queensland environment.
Dr Cooper is a keen diver and wasn’t fazed by raft exercises during the sea survival lesson or being dunked and spun underwater as part of the Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) at LifeFlight’s Training Academy.
“It’s just like scuba diving except you are in a seatbelt without a mask or oxygen,” she said.
Dr Cooper said she was incredibly impressed with the LifeFlight training.
“The amount of effort that the faculty and LifeFlight has put into this training week is indescribable,” she said.
“The high fidelity of the simulations, the exposure in the field at Whyte Island and getting to sit and have coffee and lunch with the colleagues that we are going to be working alongside can’t really be paralleled.
“I think there’s been a real focus on taking the skills that we already have and just making sure we tweak them and stay confident.”
Dr Cooper will join Dr Dineel Singh, Dr Oonagh Mitchell and Dr William Hopson in Toowoomba and Roma to help Queenslanders access critical care from the sky.
She 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.
Toowoomba and Roma-based LifeFlight critical care doctors helped 994 people in FY25 across fixed and rotary wings.
The Roma-based Surat Gas Aeromedical Service (SGAS) helicopter service, backed by SGAS partners Origin Energy, Shell QGC and Santos, generously donates up to 350 flying hours each year to assure the Roma and Maranoa communities of aeromedical coverage.
The majority of LifeFlight critical care doctors’ work is performed on behalf of Queensland Health, tasked by Retrieval Services Queensland, within Queensland Ambulance Service.
