90th anniversary
GETTY IMAGES.ADELAIDE BASETop and above: Derani and a team
on the ground help Jan Battye, who
travelled to Adelaide for treatment with
husband James by her side (right).The hours are long (today we’re on the 5am to 4pm shift),
she never knows what the day will bring and she has the
trust and autonomy to make serious decisions with all
the back-up she needs.
“I love my job,” she says with a smile as the eastern sky
glows a faint pink through steel grey clouds on the horizon.
Derani works with arguably the most loved and iconic
Australian institution: the RFDS, best known as the Flying
Doctors. Founded by outback pioneer, the Rev John Flynn
(or “Flynn of the Inland”), it irst took to the air in May
1928 and celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. In the
’80s, the RFDS inspired a TV drama which can still be
seen all over the world. Who could forget Rebecca Gibney
in a red gingham shirt and denim overalls, spanner in
hand, repairing a light aircraft in a tin shed? It was a far
cry from today’s sophisticated leet of 69 lying intensive
care units, which provide around-the-clock emergency
medical and primary health care services to rural and
remote Australia.
It’s light when we land in Tumby Bay to pick up Jan Battye.
Michelle Parker, a volunteer ambo, drives us to the hospital
where Jan is being comforted by her husband, James. Jan
was taken ill in the middle of the night and James drove
her to the hospital, where she collapsed, banging her forehead
badly. She only returned to consciousness after 10 minutes
of CPR. On top of the cardiac arrest, she is in a lot of pain,
with very sore ribs from the CPR and a huge shiner from
the fall.
In the plane, Jan is calm, comfortable and linked up to a
monitor. Derani doesn’t leave her side. She carries on a quiet,
reassuring conversation. “You know, I used to spend my
summer holidays at Tumby Bay. I was a kid and we used
to stay at the caravan park,” she says, all the while keeping
an eye on the monitor.
The light is uneventful but Jan’s condition changes rapidly
once we land in Adelaide. The ECG indicates that she is
arresting again. Derani’s response is swift, quiet and very,
very calm. The rescue paramedic arrives in a shot and Jan
is quickly on her way to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Nine years ago Derani decided she wanted a change from
nursing in a private hospital. A girlfriend suggested she try
the RFDS. She says it was fate. With her background in
critical care and midwifery, it was a perfect it. She’d also
had experience working in remote locations. In her twenties,
she had helped to set up a healthcare centre in an isolated
corner of Cambodia. When she’d irst arrived, there was