No two days are quite the same for the crew of Rescue300, and the past three months have been a good example of just how varied the work of CapRescue can be.
Across July, August and September, Rescue300 was tasked 141 times, responding throughout Central Queensland and, when needed, well beyond the region.
Patients ranged from a 24-day-old baby boy flown from Emerald with respiratory distress to people in their 80s requiring access to higher-level medical care.
Across the quarter, that response took many different forms.
In August, Rescue300 flew to a beach south of Cape Palmerston after an eight-year-old boy became unwell while his family was cut off by the tide and unable to reach medical care by four-wheel drive.
Other calls came from much closer to home. In September, Rescue300 was sent to a homestead at Morinish, west of Rockhampton, after a man suffered an anaphylactic reaction following bee stings. The crew treated him at the property before flying him to Rockhampton Hospital.
September also saw Rescue300 called offshore to the bulk carrier Strategic Harmony, six nautical miles east of Facing Island. The helicopter was used to insert the medical team and Rescue Crew Officer on board to assist the patient. The response then involved coordination between CapRescue, Queensland Police and the ship’s pilot vessel to bring the patient and crew back to shore.
And sometimes it was the sheer distance involved that stood out. On one overnight shift, Rescue300 travelled from Rockhampton to Dysart to transfer a teenage patient to Mackay, before being tasked again to Hamilton Island for a woman in her 70s who had suffered a fall. The crew transported her to Mackay before finally returning to Rockhampton at around 4am.
It was part of what became Rescue300’s busiest month of the year, with 57 tasks completed during September alone.
Behind each task was the same purpose — connecting people with the care they needed, regardless of distance, location or time of day.
The quarter represented approximately $4.1 million in operational costs and was another reminder of the reach of Rescue300 — and the government, corporate and community support that helps keep the service ready when it is needed.
Because a big region needs a fast response.