January 30, 2024
RACQ LifeFlight Rescue crews performed 2851 missions – and helped 7455 people – across Queensland in 2023.
This was up 28 per cent on the previous year’s total of 2223 missions.
The majority were inter-hospital transfers undertaken on behalf of Queensland Health but there were also multiple callouts to car and motorbike crashes, searches for missing people, mountain winch rescues and marine incidents.
Bundaberg-based crews performed a record 410 missions, up 52 per cent over the previous 12 months; these included 32 incidents involving motorists or motorcyclists.
Toowoomba-based crews – and the Roma-based LifeFlight Surat Gas Aeromedical Service – completed the highest number of missions, a total of 959, up 46 per cent.
The Toowoomba aircraft was tasked 48 times to the scene of serious on and off-road vehicle incidents.
The SGAS chopper completed 72 missions, with motor vehicle incidents the number one reason to be called out.
The Sunshine Coast helicopter crew helped 557 people during the past 12 months, up 31 per cent, notching up more than 900 hours in the air
The demand for services means a new LifeFlight hangar will be built later this year at the Aerospace Precinct at Sunshine Coast Airport following $18 million in State Government funding. The site will include a visitor centre for the public.
LifeFlight’s fleet of four air ambulance jets and nine helicopters operate from eight Queensland bases, servicing an area of 1.85 million square kilometres.
It also supports search and rescue efforts across 53 million square kilometres of land and sea for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
LifeFlight Australia will celebrate 45 years of service in December, coinciding with the 30-year partnership with naming rights sponsor RACQ.
The service is funded by a combination State Government funding, community fundraising, the RACQ sponsorship and profit-for-purpose enterprises.
