Royal Flying Doctor Service SA/NT

12/11/2025

🚨 RED ALERT!

🕐 From 1am tonight, three solar flares will light up South Australian skies - potentially the biggest aurora event in recent history.

☀️ Until then, enjoy these breathtaking shots captured from the RFDS cockpit during last May’s Southern Lights over the Spencer Gulf.

🤳 What's your favourite country spot to capture the night sky?

📸 Ed Fargher, RFDS SA/NT Pilot

11/11/2025

🗣️ "I’m gonna be home for Christmas. I have a big mob family waiting for me to come home."

In April, 64-year-old Otto Dann suffered a serious stroke in his community of Gunbalanya, 300km east of Darwin.

After months of treatment at Royal Darwin Hospital, he was transferred to Palmerston Regional Hospital’s rehabilitation ward, on the outskirts of Darwin, where he spent weeks re-learning skills affected by the stroke: movement, speech, strength, and daily living.

Otto’s rehab was long and arduous. This meant returning home wasn’t as simple as booking a flight or jumping in a car.

Coordinating his discharge and return took careful planning, with hospital, community and family working alongside the RFDS to ensure a safe air transfer.

Today, Otto's safely settled in his new home overlooking the billabong. 🖼️

✈️ Otto's journey home: https://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/news/ottos-journey-back-home/

04/11/2025

Meet Ada… who’s already dreaming big! 💫

Not only does she want to be a doctor when she grows up, she wants to be part of the RFDS team. ✈️

During her preschool health check in Oodnadatta in outback SA, Ada got to dress the part and enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour with the RFDS crew. 🩺

Thanks to Remote & Isolated Children's Exercise, incorporating Outback Childcare. for helping make Ada’s dream day possible, as well as our team for always going above and beyond for bush kids. 💙

📸 Anna Nunn

31/10/2025

✈️ Over the last 12 months, we deepened our commitment to supporting healthier and happier Australians – delivering world-class care across South Australia and the Northern Territory.

💙 From the ground up, every journey brought us closer to the communities we serve.

🎥 Take a look at the moments that defined our year 👉

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

30/10/2025

🌄 The Ikara-Flinders Ranges – the only Australian destination named on the Lonely Planet's 25 best places to visit for 2026.

We're privileged to be able to support this beautiful region and its communities! ✈️

📲 More: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel -25-best-destinations-in-2026-ikaraflinders-ranges-and-outback

29/10/2025

It was a pleasure to gather in the stunning Port Lincoln this month for our 2025 Annual General Meeting, which brought together community members, donors, partners, and supporters. 🤝

As part of the event, we were thrilled to welcome Matt Callaway from SA Ambulance Service, Rayann Semmens from Port Lincoln Hospital, and local Eyre Peninsula resident Mandy Hosking. They joined our own Deputy Flight Nurse Manager, Karen McBain, for an insightful panel discussion. 🎤

Together, they shared insight on the vital collaboration between regional and metropolitan health services when patients – like Mandy’s baby son Xavier – require emergency transfer to Adelaide. On average, we land on the Eyre Peninsula three times a day, including daily flights to Port Lincoln for missions like these. ✈️

Guests were also treated to a warm welcome from the Royal Flying Doctor Service - PT Lincoln Auxiliary renowned 'Flying Donut' van, which serves up over 35,000 donuts each year in support of the RFDS! 🍩

A heartfelt thank you to our Port Lincoln volunteers, our dedicated volunteer RFDS Board directors, our health, corporate and community partners, and everyone who joined us on the day. 👏

28/10/2025

🗣️ “This is an outstanding example of how digitally enabled care can be harnessed to improve patient safety and quality of care, even in the most challenging and remote environments." – Conjoint Professor Anne Duggan, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.

We were humbled to receive an Exemplar Practice award under the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards for our prehospital Electronic Health Record (EHR).

For more than two years now, our EHR has served as an ‘extra pair of hands’ for RFDS aeromedical crews. It has replaced paper records with a single, reliable source of truth that gives clinicians real-time access to critical patient data, and more time for direct patient care.

The development, implementation and rollout of EHR has been a huge effort by our teams and we congratulate and thank all involved. 🌟

📲 More: https://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/sant/news/new-standard-for-digital-care-in-the-air/

27/10/2025

We were honoured to welcome the Governor-General of Australia Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC to our RFDS Adelaide Base to meet with our dedicated teams and see firsthand our operations in action. ✈️

The visit comes more than 70 years after the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II granted the ‘Royal’ designation to the Flying Doctor Service. It’s a proud legacy that continues to inspire our mission of delivering life-saving care to rural and remote Australians.

Thank you, Your Excellency, for your ongoing support of the RFDS and the communities we serve. 🤝

23/10/2025

From salt lakes to sun-kissed ridges. The beautiful, vast South Aussie outback from the eyes of our RFDS PC-24. 👀

20/10/2025

🕊️ Vale, Dr John Mickan AM 🕊️

The RFDS honours the life and legacy of Dr John Mickan AM, one of South Australia’s first flying doctors. 👨‍⚕️

Dr Mickan was the last surviving member of the pioneering trio of doctors, alongside the late Dr Robert Cooter AM and Dr John Thompson OAM, who helped establish the RFDS Port Augusta Base in 1955.

Together, they laid the foundation for the life-saving service that continues to operate across rural and remote Australia.

🗣️ “He was 50 years out of Port Augusta and there are all these people still up there saying, ‘He was my doctor — he delivered me and then he delivered my kids’. It’s an incredible history and we’re very proud of him.” – Phil, Dr Mickan’s son

We extend our heartfelt condolences to Dr Mickan’s family and all those whose lives he touched.

📲 Read more about Dr Mickan and what it meant to be an RFDS doctor in the 50s and 60s: https://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/sant/news/remembering-dr-john-mickan/

16/10/2025

🗣 "Nine years ago as a 17-year-old I was lucky enough to have RFDS there when I needed help and had to be flown to Adelaide from Bordertown. It goes to show if you’re good at something, use it to your advantage and find a way to work it into your fundraising. Keep the positivity going team and the kilometres coming!"

🚶‍♀️ Local South Aussie, Kaity, has been clocking up the kilometres and selling homemade RFDS-inspired cookies to raise funds for the Flying Doctor this month.

So far, supporters across the country have helped us raise almost $3.2M during our Oceans to Outback Challenge so far! 🤩

📲 Find a participating friend and donate to them now: https://www.oceanstooutback.org.au/