CareFlight’s specialist doctors, nurses and paramedics provide the highest standard of rapid response critical care using air ambulances to reach critically ill and injured patients.
Emergency medical helicopter services
CareFlight provides Australia’s most experienced helicopter medical emergency service. The CareFlight model of care provides a fully integrated aeromedical crew – a specialist doctor, nurse or paramedic, pilot and aircrew officer – working together as a team. This highly trained trauma team flies directly to accident scenes, effectively taking the hospital to the patient.
Mounties Care CareFlight Helicopter rapid response service
The Mounties Care CareFlight Helicopter rapid response service is based on the grounds of Westmead Hospital. Utilising the H145, one of the world’s most advanced aeromedical helicopters, the service can be airborne and on its way to trauma incidents within three minutes of being called. This means that severely ill or injured patients receive hospital level care as quickly as possible.
Every minute saved is vital – for some patients this means the difference between life and death.
Top End Rescue Helicopter
The Northern Territory CareFlight Rescue Helicopter is a crucial lifeline for the Top End community. Big, fast, and long-range, the Agusta Westland 139 is particularly suited for the vast distances and challenging terrain of the Top End. This helicopter can transport multiple patients and medical staff.
The helicopter is able to deliver the medical team directly to the incident site. Where a landing is not possible, the helicopter lowers the medical team to the patient by winch. Once the patient has been stabilised, they are winched up into the helicopter and flown to hospital.
The helicopter is operated by CareFlight’s Top End Medical Retrieval Service, on behalf of the Northern Territory Government. The helicopter is also funded with contributions from the local community and local business.
Search and rescue
CareFlight has an agreement with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to provide 24-hour on-call search and rescue operations. AMSA is responsible for resolving any emergency beacon activation in Australia’s region of international rescue responsibility including land and sea.
CareFlight crews are trained in search and rescue work, which has included locating and/or rescuing sailors from stricken yachts, fishermen swept from rocks, ill or injured crew from passing freight ships, as well as missing and crashed light aircraft and lost bushwalkers.
CareFlight uses helicopters or aeroplanes for search and rescue operations and due to our night vision goggle capability are frequently called on night missions.
Paediatric and newborn rescues
In the Top End, CareFlight provides a 24-hour aeromedical paediatric service on behalf of the Northern Territory Government. CareFlight doctors and nurses travel on helicopters and aeroplanes to transport babies and children between medical facilities and from accident scenes. Our aircraft are fitted with specialised newborn and paediatric equipment so we can provide a hospital level of care for the tiniest patients during flights.
Sydney-based Mounties Care CareFlight Helicopter rapid response service flies doctor/paramedic teams to trauma scenes so critically sick and injured children receive specialist care as soon as possible. After on-scene stabilisation, CareFlight transports the children directly to paediatric hospitals.
Turbo-prop aeroplane rescues
CareFlight’s fleet of fixed wing aircraft play a vital role in our long-distance emergency and rescue work. Staffed by highly experienced aeromedical teams consisting of doctors and nurses, our ‘flying hospitals’ are equipped to carry the most critical patients.
We operate B200 King Air turbo-prop aeroplanes in the Top End of Australia’s Northern Territory and in NSW. With purpose-designed communication and navigation systems, these planes are ideally suited for CareFlight’s long-range flights across remote areas.
Medi-jet rescues
Our medically configured CareFlight Air Ambulance medi-jets are used for emergency patient transfers from overseas and interstate. CareFlight also operates the Northern Territory interstate aeromedical evacuation service, transporting critically ill patients directly across the continent so patients can access specialist treatment.
The service operates a Gulfstream G150 jet, Australia’s first dedicated medical jet, with the capability to transport critically ill patients directly across the continent and from South East Asia.
Fire and Flood Response
CareFlight provides staff to New South Wales Rural Fire Service to assist with preventative bushfire measures including hazard reduction and fire-bombing, as well as flood relief operations.
Staff on the Fire and Flood Response (FFR) Operations team consist of pilot, aircrew officers, engineers and support services from engineering stores, operations and HelpPoint logistics coordinators.
CareFlight doctors on NSW Ambulance aircraft
CareFlight’s agreement with NSW Ambulance sees CareFlight provide doctors on NSW Ambulance helicopters, road retrieval ambulances and fixed wing air ambulances.
CareFlight doctors are also assigned to care for patients on longer range fixed wing transfers and on road ambulances to major trauma scenes.
Specially trained NSW Ambulance critical care paramedics also work on the rapid response Mounties Care CareFlight Helicopter.
