Latest / Salt of the Earth / Ep 124: Royal Flying Doctor Service _ Kathryn Hines

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Ep 124: Royal Flying Doctor Service _ Kathryn Hines · Salt of the Earth

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Salt of the Earth.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: This is a very special episode of Salt of the Earth.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: The Royal Flying Doctor Service has been saving lives across some of the most remote parts of Australia for nearly 100 years.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: And today, we're going behind the scenes with flight nurse Catherine Hines in Broken Hill.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Catherine gives us a fascinating insight into what it's really like when the phone rings and you're suddenly heading into the middle of nowhere.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: One minute, you're in remote New South Wales, then Queensland, then Adelaide, all in the same day.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: We hear about patients being carried across rough country on the back of a Ute, the constant risk assessments, the logistical challenges, and the incredible teamwork that makes it all possible.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: And there's even a story of a baby delivered in the hangar just moments after the aircraft landed.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: The RFDS is part of the fabric of Australia.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: And this year, the Southeastern section celebrates 90 years.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's worth remembering just how lucky we are to have it.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's a remarkable insight into a service Australians have every reason to be proud of.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And this is Catherine Hyde.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Hello Catherine, really good to see you.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, how are you?
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: And welcome to Broken Hill.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Catherine, where are we sitting today?
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: So we are a beautiful sunny day in Broken Hill and out just near the visitor centre next to that apron of our aircraft.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me, who is Catherine Hines?
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: I am a flight nurse here in Broken Hill.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: I've um been nursing for nearly 20 years, I suppose.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's clocking on, but um been in Broken Hill on and off for nine years and yeah, just loving it.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so can't can't complain really.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: At the moment, acting senior flight nurse?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so took the role in in June.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: So that role in becoming one and one, learning the rosters and just making sure everyone is rostered on and support as well.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: So we're on call 24-7.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: If anyone needs any help or support or shift swaps or yeah, and recruiting staff, so loving the job, it's being able to help the staff here as well.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: And we've had a lot of exciting changes to be involved in, and yeah, it's never a dull minute, that's for sure.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: And this year, celebrating 90 years of the Royal Flock Doctor Service.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and yeah, started here in Broken Hill.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: So it's incredible to for it to keep going and it's getting bigger and bigger and stronger, and and we've been able to help so many people.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I've been lucky, I've been here for only five years of the whole scope, but to be involved is such a privilege.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: So 90 years for the southeastern region.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, and then you know, in a couple of years' time, it will be a hundred years for the whole yeah, nation.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: So that will be big, yeah.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: So they're already planning, so watch this space, it's gonna be good.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Fantastic.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Catherine, what what made you want to become a nurse?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it's funny because you know, you I get this question a little bit with people wanting to learn how to do this job.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I look back and when I was in year 12, I didn't want to be a nurse.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, everyone does nursing.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: Why would I want to do nursing?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so my um dad needed hearing aids.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh maybe I'll look into audiology, like that's something different.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: And and I did a work experience, I'm like, oh yeah, this is pretty cool, this is quite interesting.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then I started the degree and it just wasn't for me.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: I I think I learned I'm a practical person, and I remember I was doing a, I think it was a lesson, a speech pathology lesson, because I was hearing a speech, the degree I was doing, and I was trying to learn to teach a kid to say snail for two hours, and I just did not have the patience or the passion for it.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I saw everyone around me being so engrossed in this lesson, and I'm like, yeah, I might go into nursing because I want to care for people, and I always had an interest in health.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, growing up as a kid, my um godmother was a uh vet nurse who used to take me in and watch surgeries and you know, and and see little puppies being born or look after cats.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it was always something in a house to look after.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that brought a lot of me wanting to care for for things, and it turned out to be people, so yeah, and have a look back.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: So and where did you start your career?
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I studied in Richmond and Rest and Sydney's, and then I moved because I didn't want my first paycheck to go and rent in Sydney.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um I went to Brisbane because that's what New South Wales people do, they just move north.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I went to Brisbane and started my training there.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: I started in um ENT and plastic surgery as a nurse on the ward there, which was an amazing experience to be honest.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: It deals with a lot of a lot of trauma, there's a lot of wound care, a lot of tracheostomies as well, and a lot of surgical permanent stomas.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: So people with lung cancer or with um throat cancer, getting their throats removed and all that kind of stuff.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a uh yeah, huge learning curve.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then from there I went into intensive care nursing, and then I think that's where I was like, oh, maybe I could do RFTS.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: So this is pretty heavy stuff though, really.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yay! So um I think every part of my journey in my career is always learning and yeah, and loving it.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Even you know, I think one day, three o'clock in the morning, you're like, why do I do this job?
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: And you're like, Yeah, no, I still love it.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: So it started in ICU.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'd I was in Brisbane for about 10 years and then got stuck in traffic one day, and I'm like, and because I grew up in the bush, so I always had had a connection in the country.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: My parents were on a f a farm central west New South Wales, so a little tiny town of Linters.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Some people might have heard of it.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, grew up there, and so I think I had this moment I was stuck in traffic, and I was a student back here in Broken Hill, my last placement.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I was like, oh, maybe I'll go back to Broken Hill.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: So packed up the car and yeah, moved here.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Went for to Orange to be near my family as well for a couple of years to do my midwifery, and then I came back to do RFDS.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: So you've got a dual qualification, is that right?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so with um, yeah, so with flight nursing, so there's different places do different things, but in New South Wales, you need to have your midwifery and you need to have critical care.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: So whether that's in intensive care or ED, I predominantly have been intensive care, but then I've also worked in rural hospitals.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: So sometimes, because um, you know, there's always a little bit of a rivalry between ED and ICU, and they're like ICU like everything perfect.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the more I do retrieval, the less, you know, I don't care about my sheets anymore.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, but listen, they're the cringing, you know.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, Oh, you're really an ICU nurse.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: But I think also working in a rural hospital.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, I've worked at Broken Hill, I've done a little bit of work in Alice Springs as well, and Orange, and and then of course, this job, you sometimes just have to have an inner MacGyver, really.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna have everything, so you need to think, and I think that's why I love this job.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: It makes you really test yourself and challenge is like, oh, I don't have a syringe, what else can I use?
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I can't imagine.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I remember once we had um I had this baby I was bringing home, and I was like, Oh, you know, I it needs a bottle, and it was we were just about to go on descent, so you can't really get out of your seat during descent and landing.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, maybe I'll feed before that.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of pregnancies here, they have a beautiful maternity service here, but low-risk rimen, so a lot gets transferred to Adelaide.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, and sometimes when they're born prematurely, it takes a little while to get them feeding, and then sometimes we bring them home because you know, mum could have five children she needs to go home to as well.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, most of the time we have the parents as well.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: We've had the baby, and they're they're the best patients because they love the vibration, so they sit in this little humidity crib we've got, and their arms are up in the air, and yeah, they uh and sleep lovely, and yeah, you know, in a MacGyver, it it is very handy to have.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we might hear about a few more of those stories shortly.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: So a country girl to start with studied in the city, back out into the country now, into rural areas, but you actually get to go and work into some really remote areas.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I think um, and you just never know here.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: So the far west, as you know, you've been traveling around.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: I and I think, particularly in New South Wales, people underestimate how remote there's places in New South Wales, because like Queensland's such a big estate, and yeah, but I think um sometimes people don't realise there are isolated areas in the in the smaller state of New South Wales.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: So um, but you know, we can go anywhere.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: So sometimes, you know, we might be, you know, in in the channel country up north, yeah, and um, you know, all of a sudden you're in Queensland and you're fli, you know, you're flying to South Australia or you're back in New South Wales, and when I always work in Central Standard Times because otherwise you're trying to calculate and you always get your times wrong.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, there's sometimes I remember one moment when I first started this job.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: We were in a yeah, remote uh part on a station, I think we're 20 or 30 Ks from the airstrips.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: When you're on a job like that, you're relying on a lot of people to help you.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it's amazing the support we get, you know.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's people with utes, and we put our stretcher on the back of ute and tie it down, and and then you go to this area and you don't see anything.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Trees and background, the house is still 10 K's down the road, and all you have is people you just met five minutes ago to help you, and your doctor, and maybe your pilot if they're not the plane.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I think that had some moments where it's like, oh my god, this is just amazing.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: We get to be here.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, and we've yeah, seen some beautiful parts where I never think that I'd be able to go to before I've been as far as Lord Howe Island from here, which was amazing, you know, flying in, and because at the time it was desert here, it was dusty, it was red, it's not like it is now.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think we have new doctors there and go, Oh my god, it's always rainy in Broken Hill.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like, no, no, it's not.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: This is just a facade.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and yeah, so we left that, and then all of a sudden there's palm trees.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, this is really surreal.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, so you just never know where you're gonna go.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like a lot of the time we do do a lot of local jobs and we go to Adelaide a lot because that's our biggest tertiary centre, but then sometimes you know you'll get the call.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: So our tasking office is based in Sydney, so Aeromedical Control Center, and I'm like, So you're going today.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, oh, okay, yeah, so yeah, so no, it's cool.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: So your days probably never go to plan.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: We try, we try to have a routine, and you know, and some days occasionally it happens.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, like the way our job works, we're on call.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: So we do 12-hour shifts, we do like 7 to 7, 11 to 11.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we also have a night shift.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, you start your days like I always make sure I'm ready to go before seven because that phone can ring at seven, or it can ring at ten, or it can so you just never know when that phone's gonna ring.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: Generally, like um, if it hasn't called first thing, we'll be in base and we'll um there's a lot of equipment checks, and we check our plane and just make sure everything's in order as well.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: There's lots of packs, we take everything except the kitchen sink, but we might take that one day, I don't know.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um but so you know, so there's a yeah, a lot of things to just make sure that are in order.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and then when you get the phone call, you get ready and go.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: So, like I think about probably about 25% of our jobs um are retrieval, so with a doctor, and then um the the rest is flight nurse only, which I think with those jobs you really learn a lot about yourself.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you take you take note of everything because it's just you and the patient and the pilot, and you get yeah.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Is that a an emergency though when you're just a flight nurse or is it a it just depends on the job.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: So, like say, for example, they're like there's a car accident, 500K is north, they haven't seen any health care.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: You don't know what you're going in, you need help.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: So automatically you will take a doctor.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: But say if there's someone been in a hospital for a few days that's had a broken leg but needs to go because there's no orthopedic surgeon here, so they need to go to Adelaide.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: We can give medications with the pain, and we, you know, and we can assess as well.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: And and by even saying that, you're always assessing, you're always thinking in the back of your head, do I need to take someone else?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: Are they stable enough for the flight?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think also when you put someone in the plane, you can make them worse.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, there's less oxygen up there, gas expands as well.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: So, say they've had a chest injury and there's a little pneumothorax, so a collapsed lung or anything like that that happens, that can expand.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: I suppose there's always an element of risk in this job, and I think an important part of our role is assessing that risk and what we can do.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the good thing is we're really well supported.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, it might sound like we're yeah, I'm saying we're on our own, but I've got a doctor I can talk to.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: There's Sydney as well, Aeromedical Control Center.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: We've also got our consultant, Dr.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Help, we call them, and we can call them at any time, and our colleagues.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I think the beautiful thing about this job is everyone is very experienced.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: So, and you've got to be in this job, and a lot of people have a variety of different experiences.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I think the ability to bounce off your colleagues is just a really beautiful part of the job as well, and things you learn, and yeah, you get a lot of just you know, being able to go, I've got this issue, what would you do?
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, so there's that ability as well.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: So going back to that that flight where it's a flight nurse only, you're transporting a person with a broken leg, but midway through the flight, you might have to divert to an emergency on your own.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so sometimes that can happen.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and what is dependent.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: So we do to see what other aircraft is available as well.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: So, say if it was a day shift, afternoon shift, if they're available, they can go.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: Or say what we can do is we might have to divert, or we might have to go back to Broken Hill, put yeah, that patient off, and then go with the doctor, or there's a I think that's it.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many logistics that can happen, and that's the tricky part of the job.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think you know, we always say when you're learning this job, you know, you know the medical, it's the logistics, you know, and and that's it.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I've had times where my job has changed three times because things more emergent have popped up and that you need to go.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: So juggling that as well, and then you know, and then once you do that job, you might have to go back to the previous job that you were playing.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, so logistics is really tricky, but we're lacking in that perspective.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: We've got an organization that does assist with that, and then you've got, you know, people to help you with that.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, they can call, we have a satellite phone on the plane, so every now and then that will go off, and you're like, okay, what do you want us to do now?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: So tell me about one of these crazy days.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: I shouldn't use a crazy day.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: This is your job, but challenging, how challenging day say a seven to seven shift.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, tell me about it one of these days.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: So, for example, I think there was one day where they're like, Oh, you're gonna go Western New South Wales.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was gonna go, I think Colorado Bry or something.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, Oh no, you're actually you're on the lightning ridge, and then I think ended up it's somewhere near Burke.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I think the first two were non-emergent, and then the third one was a heart attack that we needed to go to, and then they plan other aircraft to go to those other jobs.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I think Did you have a doctor on board then?
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yes, yeah.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: So and um, yeah, so I remember the pilot is just like, I'm just gonna sit here and wait for the phone ring to see if it's gonna change again.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Because, you know, um, with the pilots as well, because you've got to work really closely with them because well, you know, we don't get anywhere without them.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um but um also they're planning, so that takes time, so they need at least half an hour, 45 minutes to plan, and there's a lot of things they need to factor in, like weather and and fuel, and you know, the closest alternate if there's fog or weather that we have to go somewhere else.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: I know a little bit about that, but I just have full faith in my pilot, and you just tell them what you need to tell them, and then that will make it happen, which is amazing.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: So working closely with them is really important, and then I think we um yeah, we we did that job and yeah, got the pa and that's it, got the patient where they needed to be and got their help and then continued on.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: And what about some of those memorable days where there's been an emergency?
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, though there's a few that pop into mind, yeah, yeah.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: So you just you you just never know, like, and and sometimes the phone rings and you're like, you've got a trauma unknown and we think they're here, and you're like, oh, okay.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: So that could be anything.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes that's all you get told.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so because if it's a triple zero call, um, that can happen, and so then we have to work that out, and that's a team effort in finding that out.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: Our pilots are really handy in that regard, they um can find the closest airstrip that we need to go to, and that could be a property, that could be a town, depending where the patient is, and sorting that out as well.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, they could have neck trauma, spinal, so we've got a um what we call a vacmat that can stabilize a spine.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: We do carry three units of blood as well that we can take, which has been a total game changer, which is amazing, and also a drug called fibrinogen that helps with clotting factors, and so um, we can do a lot to stabilize a patient in the middle of nowhere, and we've got all the gear to do so.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: So we can intubate, we can put drains in and then stabilize and pack them up and get them where they need to go and go to the ED and and they're like, Why is there dust and dirt everywhere?
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, well, we were literally in the middle of nowhere, and we were as clear, we've done the best we could with what we've got.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: So you roll up to an airstrip that possibly hasn't been used for 12 months.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, generally in that regard, so that's where the pilots come in, they'll do a lot of they've got numbers for the airstrips and make sure, you know, when it was last used, when the last had rain, they'll get someone to drive over it, like how deep are the track marks, skip the animals away, and yeah, especially in this area, you know.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um there is a a lot of kangaroos as well and and wildlife, inus and goats, and you know, and generally, so when we do um can contact people in the plane on the UHF and we'll get them to do a rerun, yeah, and then they'll tell us if it's clear or and it's good to go.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think years ago did they they were asked to light a fire at the end of the runway?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: So generally a lot of places now have lights, yeah.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: You can still get the old kerosene out as well.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: So um I I unfortunately haven't been lucky, but I've had colleagues who have had to do it in the last few years.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's pretty cool.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: And land on a road too.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, so we can land on a road here.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's um at Shavan's Creek.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: So if you drive up to Tippabara on the way up there, yeah.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: So we can do that as well.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I've seen some markings on the road somewhere in some spots where it looks like you could land.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then, yeah, and then it's amazing the number of dirt strips, um, strips that are around as well.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the good thing is uh, you know, a lot of people, particularly in this area, like take a lot of pride in their airstrips.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I think sometimes landing on the dirt is better than landing on a bitumen in a major airport.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um I mean, yeah, I think we'd prefer to do that than going to Mascot.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: Really?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: Let's pay off.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, you know, you taxi through Mascot and you'll we're like David and Goliath.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: We're only in a tiny little King Air 200.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then you'll see this through 80, and you're like, oh my god, I remember one day, I think we were in Adelaide, and the pilot's like, don't turn around, Catherine.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, turn around, and all you could see was like the nose of an aircraft.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: And we're like, holy, yeah.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I just felt like, yeah, yeah.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: Funny.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: What does a road flying doctor service nurse do that most people?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: wouldn't expect a lot of people think we take the doctor every time yeah and we don't so I think uh a lot of that is that even so a lot that we can do on our own um and my colleagues they're just amazing with what you know what they can do and and the and the pressures um of doing a lot with less as well so I think that's the big big one really but you know we also are midwives as well which does come in handy have you had the experience there yeah yeah we've had a few um but luckily I haven't had one born on a plane a few have born on the plane yeah yeah can happen babies when they want to come they'll just come yeah so I had one delivered well we we got to the destination and delivered in the hangar so didn't get to hospital but we yeah we we we we got in an enclosed space so that was that was good um that's a real positive day for you yeah you know and I think like it's tricky because you know you do all the assessments and oh yeah and and that at that stage I weren't in labor but you know you put someone in a plane and that can exacerbate things and I remember being on descent and you know you see yeah you turn around and you can yeah see that we're about to land soon and lady starts pushing or like please stop pushing just breeze and I can't but you know that's all you can say because you know you're you're strapped in your seat as well like where when we arrived we had ambulance there to help us and everyone was there to help us and I don't know things settled I'm like okay I think we'll we'll be right to get to the the hospital and it's like oh I think I can fill ahead I'm like let's just go in and we'll just check and then yeah and then there was a head of you and then a baby.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: So and it was yeah lovely birth and it was such a team effort and just even little things we had to work out the weight.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: So one of the nurses um because we don't have baby scales you know weighed herself and then took herself off and then put her cattle baby with her on a on on the aircraft like um scales that they have so have you delivered a few then I've delivered one and then I've had another close call but I think that's the tricky thing sometimes with maternities make the decision you know do you stay and wait for things to happen and uh or do you grab and go?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: So like that's two things we always need to consider.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard you say that stay and play or grab and go.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah yeah so I think there was one instance where you know labour started during flight walked on the plane and then when we got to to our destination we had to go you know to the hospital and that's about a 20 minute drive so you've got to factor that in too and you know it's like oh can the ambulance officers look after and they're not like they can deliver a baby in an emergency but they're not midwives so I'm like I better go and um anyway we got to the hospital okay and you know because I at my one moment I'm like oh do we check where things at I'm like no we just have to keep going got there you know got to the hospital and they checked and they're like oh it's fully dilated and then it took a while to have the baby so if I stayed somewhere and that could have taken more hours where they got to a hospital secure yeah with a lot of people if you need to generally like if labour is quick generally everything's in the right position and things just go yeah it's just making that clinical decision but you know you're not always alone on that either there's people you can call as well and help you talk about it as well so which is it which is great.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think it keeps me doing what I'm doing.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah yeah Catherine you'll often turn up at a location for a trauma case for example when someone's having the worst day of their lives how do you build trust quickly and how do you keep your emotion in control um well I think the thing is if you and you know we are human so there is a process and a time where you do grieve um but that person needs you to be on your best they need you to be able to do what you can do what you've trained for that's what they need they don't need to hug me and say it's okay and I I think when you're in that situation that's when you go okay I'm here to support this person.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: This is what I can do to help and you know and all the concerns go out the window you you have to make sure that they're okay.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: Any type of transfer that we do it's a person's most vulnerable time.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: So it doesn't you know even if even the level of illness that they have you know sometimes it's these people's first time leaving their town or first time in an aircraft you know let alone a tiny aircraft yeah and you know and leaving their family or their country or all that kind of things you know they're worried about who's going to feed the dog or who's going to look after stock you know like we do look after a lot of people out in stations that have these huge massive properties and it could be only them on there.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: So there's all these concerns that they've got as well and I think the good thing we can be and because the way the aircraft's design the flight nurse sits right next to the patient and so it's amazing the number of conversations I've had over the years.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_01: You can be a little bit um but yeah and then the things you learn from people too you know and different farming and and and you know and people's people are fascinating and their lives are fascinating.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: So sometimes even having just those conversations can just take the pressure off.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: Because we monitor everything so they're on you know we're monitoring their heart we're doing the blood pressure we've got those sets on so you know sometimes you you'll they'll get in the plane and go oh by the way I'm claustrophobic oh that's great to know now and you know you can see their heart rate going up and you're like oh um but you know and that's it you know sometimes you just gotta be there you know it's a scary time for people and especially being in such an enclosed space and some people not necessarily from here too so you may might be sending them further from home as well and and a lot of people have been transferred from us a few times so there is a bit of trauma there already with the injury they had years ago and you know that all comes up when they're they're faced with it again.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: There was one day where I actually sat in the stretcher and the patient sat in my seat because that's a that was what worked and and I could still support them.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: So and and be right next to them.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: So that was really important to do so because I think sometimes the doctor seat is at the head of the stretcher.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah that which was too far away to provide that support you know so yeah so sometimes you've got to switch things up to make things work.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: You're yeah thinking on the fly yeah so to speak.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: Catherine I know as a I've shot a lot of news stories over the years and it's been trauma and and so forth and there's a lot of things I just can't unsee.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah you get that often how do you get home over night time and it's gonna come up at some stage.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah and I think that the good thing it doesn't happen every day and then when it does it happens well but I think the most important thing I found and and you know this is also in my nursing career too because you know you work in an ICU you're dealing with chronic sickness all the time generally you've got the sickest person in the hospital that you're trying to keep alive so I think um it's always been really important to me to have hobbies and to be able to even just go for a walk and my dog scout um he's a great therapist so even just taking him for a walk and but also accepting that you know like a and grieving as well I think it's important like at the end of the day it's like oh this horrible thing has happened like we're human we're not you know we're there to support people and be there for them and to do our jobs but I think so you know you also need to acknowledge that it does affect you too um and you know and there's like I think over the years you do have people that you think of from time to time and and they always will stay stay with you but I think also acknowledging that and being open about that to an extent of course but so so talking talking talking and I think and I think that's it and I think that's why I love Broken Hill is the community that um is here um the support I remember when I first moved here I did not know a soul and now you know um yeah apparently I know a lot of people so and um and being able to create a really really beautiful network work people and I think also you get a really lovely connection with your pilot because that's your common work person and they they sense when things go wrong um as well like you know because there is times you know when takeoff and landing you can't talk to them because they've got to do important things which is which is fair.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah yeah yeah we do not want to distract them um but like you know sometimes you know you might say oh yeah cabin secure and they're like are you you okay like just you know sometimes they pick up on your tone or you know oh yeah you know are you busy or or if you go quiet and you're doing work and like oh is everything okay back there and yeah so they're your you know person that you can talk to and and you know and they're very they're very supportive but they're also not medicals um so making sure they're okay but they won't have to jump in and carry a stretcher or something.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah so yeah so they help us get the patients off the plane and so they help with manual handling and all that kind of stuff and you know can help us with the bags and so they're assistant.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: So they do see things but you know you also want to make sure that they're good to fly to so um just making sure they're okay and supported as well is really important but I think the the great thing is we've got a great team here we're very close we'll go out for coffee as a team as well and we do have a beautiful little social chat that you know is like oh does anyone want a coffee?
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah I'm free.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: So you know um where you think you are sometimes then you get the call.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah then you get the call it's all out the window but um yeah so I think um having people that just get it is really important but then having people outside work that live here yeah have kept me here too yeah it's just a beautiful community to be a part of you know sometimes you do transfer people you know and also I guess there could be fatalities too that's getting people back.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah so and I I think generally like you know more often than not you know it's very rarely we have fatalities.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: It does happen I'm not saying uh but you know a lot of the time we are getting the help that people need and we're getting them to where they have have to be to get the help and you know and sometimes you might run into them in the street and go like oh look at me I'm doing so much better now I've had my surgery because you don't see that all the time too sometimes you see these people and you don't see them again and you're like oh I wonder what happened to this person.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um and very rarely sometimes you do get them come in and say oh you know remember me you transferred me here and yeah so that's beautiful.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah so you know it is yeah it keeps us doing what we're doing and that's it they don't always have to come and visit but knowing that there is good outcomes of what we do is why we do it.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah so comparing city people to those rural and very remote communities yeah sometimes in the remote areas um their life expectancy is shorter.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah yeah but you're you guys are possibly bridging that gap now well uh and look and I think we're true yeah we're trying to and I think that's the thing with RFDS as well it's not just retrieval.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah we play an important part because you never know when people are going to get sick but then there is a lot in the primary healthcare space they do a lot of clinics and it's really interesting talking to them as well of what they deal with and I couldn't tell you the correct number but I think there's like 19 or 20 clinics around the area that they they see some of them are weekly some of them a couple of days a week some of them are monthly depending some are on stations some of the remote sites around the area as well but because that's it you know preventative medicine saves us coming later.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: So having a GP that they can see out there without having to try five hours like you wouldn't want to do that on a regular basis.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: So having that option where they can go and see a doctor close by and I think the good thing also with the retrieval team we do have a doctor doing telehealth as well so if anyone in the remote sites like Menindi, Tippabara, those areas so the nurses nurse run um clinics there, if they've got any issues they'll call our doctor but people on stations like there's a lot of like um gas mines as well up in Queensland that um also will call and local you know honeymoon as well down the road and all those kind of things.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_01: If they've got issues they can call us and the doctor can assess whether you know they take something from the medical chest if they've got one nearby or if they need retrieving or you know or a plan or if they need to see a GP for follow-up or any kind of thing that they need they can call yeah they might not necessarily have to get retrieved but they're getting treated for their issue as well so which is really important.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of those farmers out there I'm thinking of the one at Tilpa for example the clinic there you know they would say look I'll leave it for a while I feel okay today I'm not going to go and get that blood test or whatever it might be.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: But now they can a lot easier.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah exactly half an hour drive and you guys are there and would see possibly you know 10 clients in a day perhaps well yeah I think um yeah primary health is a different entity to us but yeah they they can see a lot of different people also seeing what they have had as well that helps us if we need to treat them later too so I think the primary health care and the retrieval can work well together.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's mental health and all those other important factors to keep people out there because it is isolating and they're tough.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: They're you know resilient I think um it's definitely a word to describe them but you know I've had people out there with a broken leg and they're like I'm walking up the plane I'm like no I can I can put you on the stretcher and I can lift you in like I can do all the work but no no no I've got one good foot I'll be fine like well I'm tagging you back they're not falling so you know they're they're tough and you know sometimes if they and you know with those types of people when they say it hurts a lot well it's like oh something is going on too so um it yeah they're amazing people what a fascinating insight into life as an RFDS flight nurse from broken legs to life threatening trauma Catherine and the team never really know what that phone call is going to bring it up but as you'll hear in Part B, the distances can be enormous the conditions challenging and the destinations can change in the blink of an eye.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: And if you get the chance I encourage you to support the Royal Flying Doctor service a donation big or small helps keep the planes in the air and it's incredible service reaching people right across Australia.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: Join me in Part Bonting our conversation with RFDS flight nurse Catherine Hines and Brooke