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A lifesaving partnership, between Brisbane Airport and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), is celebrating 15 years of connecting regional Queenslanders with critical medical care and world-class hospitals in Brisbane.
The airport has always given highest priority to aeromedical flights, usually carrying premature babies to the Mater Hospital, children to the Queensland Children’s Hospital and critical patients to hospitals across Brisbane.
Their support has also contributed towards medically fitting out aircraft and purchasing aeromedical equipment.
“The Royal Flying Doctor Service Brisbane Base is a lifeline for regional and remote Queensland,” Brisbane Airport CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff said.
“Last year, the RFDS flew 4414 patients to Brisbane Airport for essential medical care.”
Living through a medical situation in regional Queensland is unthinkable, and one that became all too real for former outback pilot Glenn Landsberg.
On a private property one hour southeast of Quilpie and more than 1000km west of Brisbane, Glenn’s life took an unexpected turn.
In March 2018, he was helping find cattle for a mate by piloting an Aeroprakt Foxbat light aircraft alone, when the steering cable gave out.
Glenn had enough time to radio in to the crew that something was wrong before the aircraft nosedived into paddock terrain.
Despite sustaining critical internal injuries, he managed to pull himself out of the crashed aircraft.
“I thought I had to get out of the plane in case it caught alight – which it didn’t,” Glenn said.
“I unclipped the seatbelt and fell out.
“I realised I’d left my water bottle and emergency beacon inside, but I couldn’t go back. I had to drag myself about 20m from the site in case there were sparks from the crash.”
The accident occurred around 3.30pm, and without his location beacon, Glenn wasn’t found until 5.30pm by another aircraft.
“I was still bleeding out before the ambulance arrived; I remember people holding my hands while we waited, that human contact was a massive comfort,” Glenn said.
“They didn’t administer anything from the onsite RFDS medical chest as my condition and injuries were too severe.
“It was a very remote location, the first ambulance arriving at 8pm when they organised a Toyota ute to ferry me out of the scrub.”
By 9.15pm the ambulance delivered him to the Quilpeta Station landing strip where an RFDS medical officer and RFDS flight nurse spent three hours stabilising him for the flight to Brisbane.
In a critical condition with collapsed lungs and leaks within his chest, there were a few times he needed to be revived during the flight.
After landing at the airport, he was transferred to Princess Alexandra Hospital with major medical and surgical specialists “to put me back together again,” Glenn said.
He spent two weeks in ICU and on a ward, with rehabilitation extending three months and his ability to walk independently again taking more than 12 months.
Six years on from that day, Glenn said: “I shouldn’t be here.”
Looking back at the events and the RFDS crew who saved his life, Glenn is grateful such a service exists.
It also isn’t the first time he’s needed their help.
A 10-year-old Glenn suffered a severe asthma attack at home between Quilpie and Cooladdi, with the RFDS having to land on the road to retrieve him.
They have also helped Glenn’s father after he was bitten by a snake, and his eldest daughter after a horse kick shattered her ankle and lower leg.
“The Royal Flying Doctor Service means the world to me; a lot of my family and friends wouldn’t be alive without it,” Glenn said.
“We couldn’t live out here without knowing the RFDS is there for us.
“I’m grateful for Brisbane Airport’s continual support to the RFDS as a corporate partner, being a critical gateway for those of us in regional, rural and remote parts of Queensland and Australia to access not only Brisbane but the major hospitals, specialists or flying on to other destinations.”