When a frantic Kate Mitchell ran towards a remote police patrol, with her seemingly lifeless toddler in her arms, she'd already spent over thirty minutes performing CPR and battling poor mobile reception to emergency services. Along with her other son, Harry, and her father-in-law, Kate had made a desperate dash by car to meet the ambulance, knowing that every second counted if 16-month-old Darcy stood any chance of surviving his terrifying Tonic-clonic seizure. Minutes later, a pursuit-trained police officer was behind the wheel of the volunteer-run ambulance, racing the Mitchell family towards Albany - with lights and sirens blaring. Now, some three years on, the Darcy Effect is helping country families from across Australia, to navigate the often frightening and complex world of an unexpected or emergency medical crisis. And as for Darcy? The fit and currently seizure free four-year-old is keeping busy helping his Mum, to pack 'care packs' for other country families, who have suddenly found themselves a long way from home.

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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. You can find out more about the The Darcy Effect here - and watch the super-cute First Aid video for kids, Fangs on the Farm, at "Fangs on the Farm" Episode. 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 become part of the Flying Doctor Podcast Facebook group, where passionate listeners and incredible outback communities come together.

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Australia's 'Queen of Hearts' was born on the day when Dawn Beaumont brought her mother back to life. Even as her extensive, professional First Aid training kicked in - as Dawn calmly performed CPR on her mum in the middle of a crowded theatre foyer - the experienced health and safety manager grappled with the knowledge that her mother was having a potentially fatal heart attack. With a family history of coronary disease and obesely overweight and a smoker, Janet was (in her daughter's words) 'literally a ticking time bomb'. Thankfully, Janet survived her 2013 health emergency. And now, she's become an integral part of her daughter's epic Duathlon support crew - as Dawn takes on the world-record-breaking challenge of running and riding 20,000km in 200 days to raise 2 million dollars for the Heart Foundation and the RFDS in 2025. Because it takes a true, modern-day Warrior Woman to claim the title of Australia's Queen of Hearts.

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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 follow and discover more about Dawn's epic Duathlon journey via her website at Queen of Hearts Run & Ride | running and riding around Australia 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 become part of the Flying Doctor Podcast Facebook group, where passionate listeners and incredible outback communities come together.

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When Veronica suffered a life-threatening bowel obstruction, she was told she had just hours to reach the specialist care she needed to save her life. From the outside, Veronica Croser appears to be a fit and active young Mum with a passion for adventure. If you met her on one of the many remote hiking trails she enjoys exploring, you probably wouldn’t be surprised that this active rural woman also volunteers as a local firefighter for her SA community of Bordertown. But what might surprise you is what’s been happening INSIDE Veronica Croser. This dynamic rural woman has spent a lifetime dealing with the often debilitating and almost always painful effects of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and it’s even more complex cousin, Chrones disease. Yet against all odds – and in much the same way she has successfully tackled some of Australia’s most remote bushland tracks and mountain walks - Veronica has tackled her ill-health with an incredible combination of inner strength, self-determination and incredible courage. Veronica Croser is living proof that you can’t always judge a book by its cover.

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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. We'd also love you to become part of the Flying Doctor Podcast Facebook group, where passionate listeners and incredible outback communities come together.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From chewing fibrous plants in Uganda to treating indigenous communities in the mountains of Peru, RFDS Senior Dentist Dr Vaibhav Garg has experienced his fair share of oral health adventures during his career. But it is the time 'Dr Vai' has spent in some of Australia's most remote and isolated communities that he credits most, for inspiring him to make remote oral health care his life's work. And it was a tiny, WA wheat belt town called Wongan Hills, that became a pivotal sliding doors moment for a young dentist simply wanting to 'make a difference'. Having recently been named the Rural Health Pros' Rural/ Remote Health Professional of the Year, Dr Vai has big plans for the future of outback oral health care.

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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. We'd also love you to become part of the Flying Doctor Podcast Facebook group, where passionate listeners and incredible outback communities come together.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This is the extraordinary tale of how an American born IT sales rep. from Melbourne suddenly found himself making international headlines from the Australian outback! When Edward McKinney headed to Uluru with his wife and baby daughter in early 2022, he was looking forward to enjoying the ‘ultimate NT Aussie adventure’. But after stepping on a brown snake in his hotel hallway, Eddie soon found himself strapped onto an RFDS plane and headed to Alice Springs hospital. And all for the sake of a little baby brown snake!

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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.

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It's the ultimate Australian outback legend. In July 1917, a young stockman named Jimmy Darcy was critically injured by a horse accident. In a desperate bid to save his life, his brothers transported Jimmy to the remote community of WA's Halls Creek, via a 12 hour cart ride. What followed was an extraordinary tale of courage, survival and incredible outback ingenuity. Jimmy Darcy would become the first patient to undergo an 'Operation by Telegraph'. And on August 2nd, 1917, all the wartime wires in WA would fall silent - as the Halls Creek Postmaster and a Perth based Doctor used morse code to try and save a stockman's life. This is the story of Dr JJ Holland, Fred Trickett and Jimmy Darcy...

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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.

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Many of us dread the thought of having needles - let alone having to inject a needle into ourselves! But when 44-year-old remote nurse Ryan Franks suddenly suffered a heart attack in the isolated community of WA's Coral Bay, taking his own bloods was just the first, daunting step in an extraordinary and terrifying bid to safe his own life. As the only professional medical practitioner on duty that night, Ryan would need to draw on all his remote medical training and sheer will power, to connect himself with an emergency tele-health doctor, attach his own ECG, insert his own canula and then talk his volunteer paramedic colleagues through his own (potential) resuscitation.

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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.

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When Mick Oates woke up in his campervan, completely unable to move, he couldn't even recall how he'd ended up there. As anyone who has had the opportunity to travel outback Australia already knows, taking 'the road less travelled' doesn't always go exactly to plan! But for Mick, a series of unfortunate events had finally caught up with former police officer's spine. Mick had officially 'done his back' on the Birdsville track! This is also the story of how Mick and his mates found themselves returning for a third, Big Red Bash experience in Birdsville this year - carefully hiking down a sand dune in full 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' costume in the famous RFDS fundraising Drag Race. Seriously!

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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. To find out more about Birdsville's Big Red Bash, you can head to Home - Big Red Bash 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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.