News & Events: Media Releases
Joondalup Health Campus Doctor looks after three hundred frightened passengers
22 October 2008
Joondalup Health Campus Director of Anaesthesia Dr Michael Veltman, was the sole medical doctor on the 767 Qantas flight that flew passengers back to Perth from Learmonth.
Earlier this month Qantas passengers on flight QF72 from Singapore to Perth endured a frightening ordeal when their plane experienced a sudden change in altitude. Three-and-a-half hours into the flight the plane plummeted hundreds of metres, pinning passengers who were not wearing seatbelts to the roof, only to be violently flung to the ground several seconds later as the plane recovered. The plane made an emergency landing at the remote airfield in Learmonth.
A co-ordinated relief effort run by the Department of Health and the Royal Flying Doctors saw a CareFlight jet and three RFDS planes sent to collect patients who were critically wounded, many suffering from head and spinal injuries, as well as serious fractures and lacerations.
Two other staff members from Joondalup Health Campus – emergency medicine specialist Dr Patrick Golden and critical care nurse Jo Fitzgerald cared for critical patients in the CareFlight jet.
CareFlight is a not-for-profit organisation that provides a high end critical care international retrieval service, run out of Western Australia at Joondalup Health Campus. CareFlight collects Australians who have fallen ill overseas, as part of providing an international and interstate retrieval service.
Although it’s an independent organisation, CareFlight WA has a special relationship with Joondalup Health Campus as it is completely staffed by critical care specialists including emergency physicians, advanced training registrars, and critical care nurses from the hospital.
Dr Michael Veltman runs CareFlight WA. He believes the relationship the hospital and CareFlight have formed will lead to better co-ordinated care. “The doctors for CareFlight are rostered on at Joondalup’s Department of Anaesthesia. One day they may be working in theatre, the next day they could be on the CareFlight jet,” explained Dr Veltman
CareFlight WA was involved in the Learmonth rescue because it had signed a memorandum of understanding last year with the Department of Health to be part of the state’s disaster plan.
Dr Veltman was asked to travel back on a plane that carried the remaining 300 passengers. Dr Veltman explained how the passengers were visibly relieved to have a doctor on board. Many passengers had injuries ranging from minor bruising down to probable fractures.
Dr Veltman recalls what an intense experience this flight was. “So many people required attention; from the moment I arrived it was extremely busy. I had a St John Ambulance paramedic and myself and between us we treated everyone that wanted medical assistance as well as prioritising which people needed to be most urgently evacuated from the plane on landing,” he recalled.
Dr Veltman believes the emergency response ran exceptionally smoothly. “It all went remarkably well - sick people were treated on site and then sent to the right places, with enough emergency medical response teams to care for everyone. Credit should be given to the RFDS and Department of Health for running such a well co-ordinated effort in getting hundreds of injured people safely back to Perth.”
The Learmonth incident is one of the largest relief efforts that has required injured patients to be flown into Perth in Western Australia’s recent history.
“Joondalup Health Campus has become an integral part of the state’s disaster response. As well as being one of the receiving hospitals for major disasters, Joondalup is now a critical part of the early response to remote disasters in WA. If a disaster strikes again either in WA or internationally, CareFlight, in collaboration with Joondalup hospital will offer a rapid response that may help save lives,” Dr Veltman explained.