Patient care the top priority RFDS Mount Gambier Patient Transfer Facility officially opened on first year anniversary You have a serious medical condition and doctors come into your hospital room to let you know you need to be airlifted to Adelaide – the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) is on its way. You are transferred to the Mount Gambier Regional Airport. It is wet and cold and you patiently wait on the tarmac until your flight arrives. You are anxious about what lies ahead and uncomfortable thanks to being out in the elements. If you haven’t lived it you probably never considered that part of the journey but fortunately the Mount Gambier RFDS Support Group did and around two and a half years ago they started plotting, planning and fundraising to provide this region’s patients with a state-of-the-art facility. It is a climate-controlled and medically-equipped area to
stabilise critical patients prior to flight, a generous hangar space to park aircraft, to load and unload patients during times of extreme weather and a dedicated and secure garage to house an SA Ambulance Service (SAAS) vehicle to remain on standby for arriving RFDS and SAAS MedSTAR retrieval teams to drive without delay into Mount Gambier Hospital. The Mount Gambier Patient Transfer Facility was officially opened earlier this month – a year after it started operations and the local support group is still on the fundraising campaign to continue to improve the facility to ensure patient care is paramount. Around 180 people attended the official opening with Mount Gambier RFDS Support Group president Bill Russon saying it was a proud day for the group. “It wasn’t great weather on the
day either so it was perfect for showing all the officials exactly why we needed the facility for this region,” Bill said. A RFDS flight was also called upon in the morning just as the RFDS officials arrived so the value of the service to this region was on full display. The Mount Gambier RFDS Support Group president said
corporate support, especially the Barry Maney Group and Bendigo Bank, had been critical in helping fund the vital project, as was the donations from energy providers Origin, Beach Energy and SA Power Networks. The Scott Group was also one of the major donors. The $400,000 facility – this first in South Australia - not only relied
on the generosity of its corporate partners but also the generosity of the community and hard work of the volunteers from the Mount Gambier RFDS Support Group. “The whole project was selffunded and we are very proud of that,” Bill said. “We had so much support whether it was cash or in kind.” The support group president is also proud of the collaborative nature of the project with the SA Ambulance, Mount Gambier Hospital and Mount Gambier Regional Airport combining forces to achieve their mutual goal. “It was important this project included everyone in the chain,” he said. There are plenty of stories about individuals and small groups that also gave what they could to fund the newly opened project and the story of Fred Bresolin is one of those stories. It was 1988 and the 43 year old was not working at the time when he decided to embark on the almost 500 kilometre pilgrimage from Mount Gambier to Adelaide, prompted by his own personal experience. “My auntie had a brain aneurysm and as soon as they realised it, they flew her to Adelaide straight away,” Fred’s widow Luigina Bresolin said, as the family reflected on the third anniversary of Fred’s passing last year. CONT. OPP. PAGE MOUNT GAMBIER PATIENT TRANSFER FACILITY: (Above top) RFDS officials and stakeholders at the official opening of the new facility. PERSONAL STORIES SPARK GENEROUS DONATIONS: (Above bottom left) Association of Italian and Australian Pensioners and Elderly officials and Luiguna Bresolin hand over thier donation to Bill Russon and (above bottom right) RFDS Mount Gambier Support Group David Douglas (secretary); Ann Saunders (treasurer) and Bill Russon (president) gratefully accept the donation from Karen Petersen (second from left) with proceeds from her Girls Night In online auction.
