RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Air Ambulance jets airlift mine explosion patients from Moranbah.

Showing just how great retrieval services are in Queensland for miners, three patients, injured in a reported mine explosion, were airlifted to Brisbane recently by a fleet of RACQ Lifeflight Rescue Air Ambulance jets.

The trio of jets was airborne within 90 minutes of being tasked and arrived at Moranbah Airport, south-west of Mackay, shortly after. 

The aeromedical teams worked with local Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) personnel to transfer the patients, from the hospital where they were initially treated, to the waiting aircraft.

The jets are flying Intensive Care Units, with an RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Critical Care Doctor and Flight Nurse on board.

The jets – a Learjet and a Challenger 604 from Townsville, along with a Challenger 604 from Brisbane – each flew an injured patient back to Brisbane Airport. They were then transported by QAS teams, to hospital. 

The mammoth emergency response from the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Air Ambulances was coordinated by Retrieval Services Queensland.

The jets are currently available exclusively to respond to Queensland Health missions, under an expanded service agreement with the Queensland Government.

Without these critical services, and the other services operating in Queensland, outcomes would no doubt be far worse off. As an industry, support for these is of the highest importance. To the medical staff across the different services, those that support them, and medical teams in the hospitals they are sent to, we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. You are angels in the air and on the ground.