15 new registrars have been given a chilly reception at CareFlight, dropped to the bottom of a pool in a helicopter simulator wearing blacked out goggles.
The Doctors found themselves in a sink or swim situation on day one of their induction course, dropped straight into Helicopter UnderWater Escape Training (HUET).
“We decided to bring the HUET course forward to the Monday because we found it made the Doctors feel really anxious all week in the lead up,” said CareFlight Chief Medical Officer Dr Allan Mackillop.
“These registrars have come from a structured hospital environment to today being strapped into a cage blindfolded underwater, it really is quite overwhelming for them.”
As an accredited training facility, every six months CareFlight offers critical care registrars in their final years of specialty rotation, an opportunity to work in the dynamic air-medical environment.
“All our Doctors have been practising medicine for at least 7 years, we insist on this high level of experience because integrating rapid response medicine with air retrieval can be extremely challenging,” said Dr Mackillop.
The Gold Coast and Northern NSW won’t be the only areas to benefit from this new intake of Doctors. At the completion of training CareFlight Doctors will be placed in other rescue helicopters and fixed wing aircraft right throughout QLD.
“Of this latest intake four Doctors will work out of the Tugun hangar fulltime, the others will be spread throughout Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns and Mackay,” said Dr Mackillop.
“CareFlight Medical Services adheres to world standard training models and two years ago was awarded the contract from the QLD Government for training and provision of doctors in the air-medical environment.”
On Tuesday the Doctors are off to Griffith University’s Centre for Medicine, where they’ll train in simulated emergency situations using helicopter rescue equipment.
Media Contact Renee Buckingham 0421 381 023