The Flying Doctor – Details, episodes & analysis

Everyone knows that Mums know best...So when baby Selene's mum first noticed her one-year-old was 'just not herself', she took her straight to the local hospital. But in the Christmas holiday chaos of long waiting times and staff shortages, Hayley's feverish daughter was sent home with a diagnosis of 'viral tonsilitis'. Three days later, Selene was being airlifted by the RFDS to Townsville hospital, as she struggled to breath from the pressure of a large abscess pressing into her windpipe. 

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Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us. There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners about our podcast and the incredible people we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated.  You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Jaimen Hudson became a quadriplegic at the age of 17, after crashing onto his head from a dirt bike, he refused to let his disability define him. Now a world-famous photographer and filmmaker, a husband and father and the owner of a successful eco-adventure business in the stunning Esperance region of WA, Jaimen attributes much of his life's success to his positive attitude. And it was this same positive mindset that the now 33-year-old had to draw heavily upon when, on Easter Monday 2024, he was thrown from his all-terrain wheelchair and broke his neck a second time. 

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Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us. You can find out more about Jaimen's extraordinary drone photography and eco-adventures at Print Store | Speaking Engagements | Photography – Jaimen Hudson

There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners about our podcast and the incredible people we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated.  You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode #104 of the Flying Doctor podcast, we met Greg - a passionate, 70-year-old surfer, who is lucky to be alive after suffering a stroke while on his board. Thanks to a FAST diagnosis from his wife Naomi and the incredible actions of first responders on the scene, Greg survived. But the long distance that Greg - along with other remote Australian stroke survivors we've interviewed on this podcast - had to travel to receive a full brain scan, can play a critical role in a patient's long-term recovery.  Accurately diagnosing and treating a stroke in the 'golden hour' after a bleed or blood clot strikes, can even mean the difference between life and death. Dr Zoe Schofield is the RFDS’s Federal Research Strategic Projects Manager and the project lead for the integration of portable brain scanners into aeromedical retrieval for the Australian Stroke Alliance - collaborative health project currently conducting ground-breaking research into portable brain scanners and stroke detection technology. 

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The Australian Stroke Alliance recommends that we always BE FAST with stroke diagnosis - by checking BALANCE, EYES, FACE, ARMS, SPEECH and TIME (ring 000). You can find a full list of organisations working within the Australian Stroke Alliance - along with a heap of great research articles and news updates - at https://austrokealliance.org.au/

You can also find more about the research that the RFDS and Stroke Alliance is doing by following this link to our latest stroke report: https://files.flyingdoctor.org.au/dd/files/RN110_Stroke_Alliance_Research_Report_P1_Web.ff08.pdf?_ga=2.125308746.1186623458.1724133185-1925006437.1720657219

We hope you enjoyed this special episode around Stroke awareness – made possible with the support of RFDS national partner, HCF, Australia’s largest not-for-profit health fund. To learn more, visit HCF health insurance | Your health comes first | HCF

Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated.  You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au. 

We'd also love you to join the conversation at our Facebook Group called the Flying Doctor Podcast Community 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before suffering a stroke in 2022, Esperance local, Greg Hamilton, would happily spend hours a day tackling big surf breaks on his paddle board. An enthusiastic runner, former fitness club 'junkie' and a non-smoker and non-drinker - at 72 years old, Greg was the picture of good health. Later, Doctors would tell him the Basal Ganglia Haemorrhagic stroke that caused him to topple from his surf board, could just as easily have struck him at any other age or time in his life. For Greg's wife Naomi, the FAST signs of stroke were clear and TIME was critical, if Greg was to survive.

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How do you know someone is suffering a stroke? The Australian Stroke Foundation's advice is to think FAST and look for these signs. FAST. FACE is drooped, ARMS can't be raised, SPEECH slurred or confused and TIME is critical, call 000.

We hope you enjoyed this special episode around Stroke awareness – made possible with the support of RFDS national partner, HCF, Australia’s largest not-for-profit health fund. To learn more, visit hcf.com.au

Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated.  You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au. 

We'd also love you to join the conversation at our Facebook Group called the Flying Doctor Podcast Community 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former tour guide, Ben Trewren, is completely at home in the remote Australian outback. Through his current logistics role with the SA charity, Operation Flinders, he regularly mentors young people in the challenges and rewards of learning basic survival skills, navigation and the simple pleasures of spending time 'out bush'. So, when this experienced adventurer found himself clinging to the top of a falling Mulga tree, his immediate thought was, 'you idiot'! Luckily (it seemed) another Mulga had broken his fall - the tree's branch leaving a small but painful puncture wound in his elbow. Just hours later, Ben realised his arm was almost completely paralysed. 

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Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us, as we continue to celebrate reaching our 100th episode milestone. And we hope you'll stay with us for another 100 episodes to come! You can also find out more about the great work being done by Ben and his co-workers and volunteers at Operation Flinders at Operation Flinders Foundation | Transforming the lives of young people There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners and those we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated.  You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au. 

We'd also love you to join the conversation at our Facebook Group called the Flying Doctor Podcast Community 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Padthaway farmer Phil Giles and his wife Julie love their cows - almost as much as they love their compost. On their family farm in south eastern SA, the Giles have spent the last 25 years developing a successful compost production and transport company, working with many of the region's businesses and local vineyards to utilise waste and to enhance agricultural production. But in 2018, Phil's run in with an angry 'bull at a gate' left a lasting impression on both him and the (now very bent) gate that nearly killed him!

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Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us, as we continue to celebrate reaching our 100th episode milestone. And we hope you'll stay with us for another 100 episodes to come! There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners and those we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated.  You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au. 

We'd also love you to join the conversation at our Facebook Group called the Flying Doctor Podcast Community 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Very few fourteen-year-olds could claim to be successfully managing their own business...but Clay 'Squid' Bertram is no ordinary teenager. As well as being the entrepreneurial brains behind a unique range of custom-made sand boards, Squid has also spent the last few years clocking up some impressive, double figure fundraising totals for the RFDS Oceans to Outback fundraising challenge. Mentored by his marathon running Dad, Micheal (aka Big Bert), his music-loving mum Simone and his cabinet making grandfather, John - all incredible community volunteers in their own right - Squid now has his sights firmly set on topping the fundraising leader board for Oceans to Outback in 2024.  

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Thanks so much the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us. To learn more about Oceans to Outback just head to Royal Flying Doctor Service : Home (oceanstooutback.org.au)

We recently celebrated our 100th episode and we hope you'll continue to enjoy at least another 100 episodes to come! There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners and those we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated.  You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au. 

We'd also love you to join the conversation at our Facebook Group called the Flying Doctor Podcast Community 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From flipping a ute on a remote outback road, to experiencing the excruciating pain of an Irukandji jelly fish sting, our milestone 100th episode takes you on a compelling journey through the many inspiring, authentic Australian stories that the Flying Doctor Podcast has shared so far.

Visiting some of the most remote and beautiful locations across regional, rural and remote Australia, the stories of our patients and frontline RFDS staff will take you on an incredible adventure.

So 'welcome aboard' the 100th Flying Doctor Podcast episode, as we 'turn the tables' on podcast host Lana Mitchell and discover the rich and fascinating story of how outback Australia's favourite podcast came to be. 

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Thanks so much for listening to our 100th episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us. And we hope you'll stay with us for another 100 episodes to come! There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners and those we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated.  You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au. 

We'd also love you to join the conversation at our Facebook Group called the Flying Doctor Podcast Community 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When we're stressed or anxious, the best advice is usually just to 'just relax and take some deep breaths'. But what if you suddenly simply couldn't breath? If every breath felt like you were running out of air? WA's Leanne Schofield recently experienced such a debilitating and prolonged asthma attack, that she truly thought she was going to die.

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Thanks so much for listening to the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us. There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners and those we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated.  You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au. 

Please join the conversation at our Facebook Group called the Flying Doctor Podcast Community 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the adrenalin pumping sport of Motorcross, there's an obstacle section known as a 'whoops' - which is basically a series of continuous bumps that racers can ride over, as fast as they like. This is the story of the day that Murray Collins hit a 'whoops' bump, that truly lived up to its name! 

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Thanks so much for listening to the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us. There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners and those we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated.  You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au. 

Please join the conversation at our Facebook Group called the Flying Doctor Podcast Community 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.