History
CareFlight took to the skies in 1986 and is continuing to spread its wings to save lives across the state
| Year | Month | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | May | CareFlight incorporated as a public company limited by guarantee |
| July | CareFlight's first helicopter, Squirrel AS350B (VH-HCF) is commissioned | |
| July | CareFlight's first helicopter patients, two children, are flown from Lithgow to Sydney following a car crash | |
| September | NSW Premier Barrie Unsworth MP officially opens the CareFlight Service | |
| 1987 | March | Commencement of multi-transport mode retrieval: helicopter, fixed wing and road ambulance |
| May | CareFlight becomes the first emergency helicopter service in NSW to go on 24-hour duty | |
| December | A fisherman is rescued after falling down a cliff face at Bluefish Point in Manly at night. CareFlight crew members receive a bravery award for their rescue efforts | |
| 1988 | August | The CareFlight Stretcher Bridge, the world's first fully integrated mobile intensive care module, is completed |
| October | The Dauphin SA365C-2 helicopter is commissioned | |
| 1989 | May | SCAT paramedics from Ambulance Service of NSW join CareFlight |
| 1990 | January | CareFlight implements medical registrar training scheme after becoming the first Australasian non-hospital organisation to be granted accreditation for specialist training in critical care |
| February | NSW Health Minister Peter Collins MP opens the Westmead operations base | |
| March | CareFlight's first international retrieval from Penang | |
| 1991 | July | CareFlight retrieves its 2,000th patient, a six-month-old baby |
| 1992 | March | Chief Pilot John Hoad receives the HAI Bravery Award for a rescue operation carried out in Bungonia Gorge at night |
| July | The first NSW Fire Brigade's Hazmat deployment by CareFlight, to a truck and freight train crash at Condobolin | |
| 1994 | October | CareFlight co-founder Ian Badham receives the international Association of Air Medical Services Marriott-Carlson Award |
| December | The Bell 412HP helicopter arrives at the CareFlight Base | |
| 1995 | January | The new Bell helicopter undertakes its first mission to a hang glider crash in the Blue Mountains |
| January | CareFlight conducts its first three-patient mission on the Bell helicopter following a car crash near Tamworth | |
| 1996 | April | In an Australian first, the CareFlight medical team uses an intra-aortic balloon pump during a helicopter patient transfer |
| July | CareFlight retrieves its 5,000th patient | |
| 1997 | June | CareFlight receives the Royal Humane Society's commendation for the difficult rescue of an injured man at Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains |
| 1998 | August | A 13-year-old girl is rescued from the flooded Nepean River seconds before she is swept over a weir. The CareFlight crew are later recognised for their bravery with a number of prestigious international awards |
| December | CareFlight rescues seven sailors from the stricken yacht Business Post Naiad during wild storms in the Sydney-Hobart yacht race. The CareFlight crew later receive the Prince Philip Award and other wide recognition for the rescue efforts | |
| 1999 | January | CareFlight's 7,000th patient is rescued from a crashed aircraft near Merriwa |
| February | CareFlight receives the 1998 Award for Aviation Safety Excellence in the AOC category | |
| June | CareFlight signs an affiliation with Charles Sturt University for teaching and pre-hospital medical research | |
| 2000 | August | CareFlight's Central West dedicated regional emergency helicopter is launched by NSW Health Minister Craig Knowles MP at Orange, and NSW Premier Bob Carr at Wellington |
| September | In its first mission, the Central West CareFlight helicopter flies a patient from Condobolin | |
| 2001 | May | CareFlight's Central West helicopter Agusta A119 'Koala' is launched at Darling Harbour |
| 2002 | February | CareFlight retrieves its 10,000th patient |
| July | The first CareFlight Pre-hospital Trauma Course takes place | |
| 2003 | January | CareFlight medical teams attend the Waterfall train crash in which seven people are killed, triaging, treating and transporting the injured |
| 2004 | May | The Agusta A109E helicopter is acquired for the Head Injury Retrieval Trial project |
| December | CareFlight's disaster cache is deployed to Banda Aceh in support of the Australian Civilian Surgical Team after the south Asian tsunami | |
| 2005 | March | CareFlight and NRMA Insurance, in partnership with the Ambulance Service of NSW, launch the Head Injury Retrieval Trial in the presence of Premier Bob Carr MP |
| May | HIRT accesses its first patient at Kurrajong | |
| September | CareFlight retrieves its 14,000th patient | |
| 2006 | February | NSW Member for Parramatta Tanya Gadiel MP officially opens the Winch Simulator at Westmead |
| May | CareFlight treats five-year-old burns victim Sophie Delezio after she is hit by a car at a pedestrian crossing, giving her a blood transfusion and placing her on life support before flying her to Randwick Hospital | |
| June | CareFlight's rebuilt and enhanced disaster cache is deployed to earthquake devastated Java in support of the NSW/ACT Australian Medical Assistance Team | |
| July | CareFlight celebrates 20 years of saving lives | |
| 2007 | February | CareFlight International conducts its first mission out of Darwin |
| March | CareFlight International Darwin service is officially launched by Chief Minister of Northern Territory, The Hon Clare Martin | |
| May | CareFlight's contract to provide helicopter services to the Ambulance Service expires, but CareFlight secures a seven-year contract to provide doctors to the NSW medical retrieval system | |
| October | CareFlight commences first contract to provide helicopter AME to ADF exercises at Mt Bundey Training Range, NT | |
| November | HIRT operations are extended to the Central Coast | |
| December | The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) grants approval to CareFlight to fly night operations using night vision goggle technology | |
| 2008 | April | CareFlight uses Night Vision Goggles (NVG) in an Australian civilian first when participating in a search and rescue mission to locate a lost plane off the NSW south coast |
| June | CareFlight International Air Ambulance opens a base in Perth | |
| July | CareFlight treats Northern Beaches toddler Charlie when he falls onto his head from a bunk and goes into cardiac arrest. He is flown to hospital under full intensive care and miraculously makes a complete recovery | |
| December | CareFlight International Air Ambulance, now averaging five to six missions per week, conducts a record 33 retrievals this month | |
| 2009 | January | Our helicopter service goes national as we provide aero-medical support to the Northern Territory government |
| January | CareFlight conducts its inaugural NVG medical mission when flying a critically ill infant from Katherine to Darwin Hospital | |
| February | In NT's first civilian NVG search and rescue mission, CareFlight rescues a man trapped by rising floodwaters in crocodile infested territory | |
| May | CareFlight International Air Ambulance opens a base in Cairns | |
| October | CareFlight moves into new national headquarters, made possible by a generous grant from the MAA | |
| 2010 | June | CareFlight commences night time HIRT operations using NVG. | July | Under an interim contract to the NT Government, CareFlight commences provision of fixed wing aeromedical services to the Top End. |
| 2011 | March | CareFlight launches MediSim, a mobile simulation-based trauma training program designed to support clinicians working in rural and remote communities. |
| March | The last patient is recruited into the Head Injury Retrieval Trial. | |
| Arpil | CareFlight purchases our first fixed wing aircraft, a B200 King Air turboprop plane. | |
| June | The NT Government announces the award of a 10 year Aero Medical Services Contract, to CareFlight. | |
| July | CareFlight celebrates our 25th anniversary. We now conduct over 5,000 missions per year, flying from eight bases to destinations around Australia and beyond. |