A familiar face at Logan Hospital has taken on a more adrenaline-pumped mission, swinging from ropes outside helicopters and treating patients from remote areas.
Dr Emerald Stewart worked at Logan Hospital in the past and says she’s likely to return at some point.
But as one of the newest RACQ LifeFlight rescue critical care doctors, she has herself firmly strapped in for an exciting career ride.
The “retrieval registrars”, who will work with aeromedical services around the state, have completed an exhilarating training program, equipping them with the skills to take advanced medical care, wherever it’s needed.
Dr Stewart is one of 11 new recruits.
“I wanted to upskill outside my usual field of anesthesia and learn different communication techniques, not just clinical techniques, but communication techniques that I can take into my job every day, that will overall make me a better doctor,” Dr Stewart said.
“Also, it’s obviously a pretty cool thing to do, to fly in helicopters and potentially winch patients,” she said.
Before taking to the skies, new doctors went through a training program which included aviation and winch training on the new Land Rover LifeFlight Special Mission helicopter.
This enabled the Special Mission helicopter crew to be ready to go above and beyond, by further refining their skills and continuing their training regime, while allowing the fleet of RACQ LifeFlight Rescue community helicopters to remain online and available for life-saving missions.
Doctors also learnt how to save their own lives, in the unlikely event of a helicopter crashing into water.
The trainees were literally thrown in the deep end.
“It’s highly unlikely an aircraft will crash in the water, whether that’s an ocean, lake or dam, but these doctors need to know how to mentally and physically orientate themselves whilst underwater, in the event that it does happen,” training instructor Jenevieve Peacock said.
“So much of it is hands on with simulations, really good clinical teaching and then you take it into immediately getting hands on with simulation patients, so it’s been really rewarding,” Dr Stewart said.
