Zahlen, bitte! Medical help anywhere in the outback in 2 hours: the RFDS

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In this country, rapid medical assistance is a matter of minutes: First dial 911 and an ambulance is usually on the scene within a short time. But what is it like in the vast outback, Australia's remote wilderness area of up to 5.1 million square kilometers?

The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS) has been providing rapid medical assistance since 1928. With a sophisticated network of 21 different locations, the rescue and relief service is able to reach any location in the outback by air within two hours of being alerted in an emergency.

Zahlen, bitte!

In this section, we present amazing, impressive, informative and funny figures ("Zahlen") from the fields of IT, science, art, business, politics and, of course, mathematics every Tuesday. The wordplay "Zahlen, bitte!" for a section about numbers is based on the ambiguity of the German word "Zahlen." On one hand, "Zahlen" can be understood as a noun in the sense of digits and numerical values, which fits the theme of the section. On the other hand, the phrase "Zahlen, bitte!" is reminiscent of a waiter's request in a restaurant or bar when they are asked to bring the bill. Through this association, the section acquires a playful and slightly humorous undertone that catches the readers' attention and makes them curious about the presented numbers and facts.

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Help is not limited to rescue flights. In addition to on-site rescue, the RFDS also provides direct medical assistance and advice via radio, telephone or online call.

It also carries out medical research and prevention work. The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia was the first flying service of its kind in the world.

On their own medically in the outback

This was made possible by two men with pioneering ideas. John Flynn was born in 1880 as the third child and raised by his aunt, as his mother died from complications during his birth and her sister took over the child.

From 1903, he studied theology at Ormond College at the University of Melbourne. The outback fascinated him and from 1911 he worked as a minister for the Inland Mission of the Presbyterian Church 500 kilometers north of Adelaide. What he experienced there left its mark on him: there was hardly any medical care in the outback.

If you had a medical emergency, you either had to deal with it yourself or be transported hundreds of kilometers to the nearest medical facility. People were on their own and for many, an injury that was treatable in itself was often a death sentence, especially for indigenous people.

Flynn therefore campaigned for medical care in the bush in addition to missionary social stations. The pastor got the idea of providing care by plane from a letter from Lieutenant John Clifford Peel, a military pilot in the Australian Flying Corps, who had studied medicine before his military service.

Peel had read the outback guidebook "The Bushman's Companion" by John Flynn and Andrew Barber during his medical studies before being called up for the First World War, in which the priest described the problems of medical care in the outback as well as survival tips in the wilderness.

Airplane as the cheapest means of transportation to remote areas

During his training as a pilot, he came up with the idea of providing medical care from the air using the new type of aircraft. In his letter, "Cliff Peel" calculated the advantages of an airplane supply compared to one via land vehicles.

He wrote in 1917:

With aeroplanes I venture to say that, given proper care, the upkeep is relatively light while the cost of installing compares very favourably if we realise that to run a train, motor car, lorry, or other vehicle, roads must first be made and then kept in repair, whilst the air needs no such preparation.

The capital expenditure in Europe (according to an eminent English authority) before a motor car can be run is 6,000 pounds per mile, for a train 24,000 pounds per mile, and for an aeroplane about 600 pounds per mile.

Medical bush air service under construction

The idea was out in the world. And John Flynn spent the following years trying to make it a reality. It took until 1927 for the idea to get wind beneath its wings. That was when Flynn met one of the founders of the Australian airline Quantas, who provided the aircraft for the project.

Flynn founded the Aerial Medical Service (AMS) for this purpose. On May 17, 1928, the time had come: the two-seater "Victory" aircraft, rented for two shillings per flight mile, took off from its first location in Cloncurry (Queensland) with a doctor. Top speed 160 km/h, with a range of 800 to 1000 kilometers.

In the first year, the flying doctors treated 225 patients. They flew to 26 destinations and made a total of 50 flights. The flights usually took place during the day, although night flights were occasionally carried out in the event of life-threatening emergencies and intrepid pilots. Initially, the pilots used a compass and prominent landmarks for orientation. Over time, fuel and medicine depots were set up at strategic locations to extend the range.

Radio for remote areas

But how could the people in the bush alert the rescue services? One solution was invented by technician Alfred Traeger, whose grandparents emigrated from Germany to Australia.

Traeger experimented with radios and was contacted by Flynn, who was looking for a way to make radio calls from remote and barely accessible locations.

In 1928, Traeger developed a radio that was not dependent on an electrical power supply: the radio operator simply generated the necessary power himself using a pedal generator. This made it possible to request help using Morse code.

From then on, the service grew step by step: in 1934 it was renamed the Australian Aerial Medical Service and the company opened locations throughout Australia. In 1942, the service was renamed the Flying Doctor Service, and in 1955 the British Crown gave the service the title Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Flight numbers, please!

Over the years, the company's own fleet of aircraft also grew so that it was not dependent on external providers. According to its own figures, the RFDS now has 87 aircraft, spread across 23 locations throughout Australia. This makes the RFDS the third largest airline in Australia. According to their own figures, they covered 27,475,543 kilometers in 2024 and transported 32,949 patients. The service also has a fleet of 292 vehicles. The service is spread across seven organizations: an umbrella organization and six regional companies. The operational area covers 7.15 million km². Within this area, a doctor can be on site within two hours in the event of an emergency.

Alice Springs is the best-known RFDS location due to its tourist appeal. In addition to emergency flights, medical personnel, medicines or blood reserves are also flown in for less urgent cases. Medicine depots are also set up in remote locations.

In addition to government grants, the service is financed by public donations and tourist income from the Alice Springs Visitor Center, the store and settlements with health insurance companies. Insured persons, whether locals or tourists, generally do not have to pay anything – Only uninsured persons may have to pay for treatment.

In this country,the RFDS is known from the series "The Flying Doctors", which was produced from 1985 to 1993 and brought the work of the RFDS closer to viewers in 6 seasons with a total of 221 episodes. The series even gave rise to a local fan club of the Australian rescue service.

John Flynn once said "If you start something worthwhile – nothing can stop it". His efforts to help people in remote areas have saved many lives. He himself died on May 5, 1951 at the age of 70 and lived to see his efforts bear fruit.

Clifford Peel, who came up with the idea for the air service, was not lucky enough to see it come to fruition. He did not return from a reconnaissance mission in France on September 19, 1918, just two months before the end of the war.

(mawi)