AIR SERVICES

Hokitika Guardian, 25 October 1933, Page 6

AIR SERVICES

MORE FLYING DOCTORS. PLANS IN AUSTRALIA. SYDNEY, October .20. The extension of aerial medical services to include the whole of inland Australia is the ambitious project of the ijistralian Inland Mission of the Presbyterian Church. The superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission, Rev. John Flynn, said that a provisional council li d been appointed in Melbourne to plan the extension. An appeal would be made to all irreligious of sectional interests, tions of sectional interests, to co-operate in establishing a service which would embrace the whole of Australia:, he said. Authority was recently given by the General Assembly of ■ the - Presbyterian Church to the advisory v committee of the Australian Inland Mission to establish a new aerial medical service on a national basis. T,he proposal provides for live new inland bases of operations, in addition to the present base at Cloncurry, which has been worked ..by Dr j Allan Vickers, the “flying doctor,” for j the past three years. [ When the first aerial station was j estabished at Oloncurry five years ago. j it was hoped that the movement would 1 be extended when its ideal s were proved j practicable. But finance was a difficulty and the matter remained in abeyance until the Premier of. Queensland, Mr W. Forgan Smith, brought it before ’the Premiers’ • Conference last June,; The conference gave its approval to the preparation of plans for the orderly development of the scheme. When the support of the churches, charitable organisations and friendly societies is enlisted, an aerial medical service association will be formed. It will be managed by a. board, comprising one representative of each body.

Mr Flynn said that the five new bases would be set up at Broken Hill, Kalgoorlie, Port Headland, Hall’s Creek and Alice Springs. Ajt each station, which would be staffed by medical officers and nurses, a plane would be' kept ready to carry doctors t.o the furthest outposts of Central and North Australia. The planes would work , within a 500-mile radius of each base. :

It is anticipated that the c°st of maintaining six will not exceed £30,000 ,a year. This sum, it is hoped, -will be ( obtained from Government subsidies, j fees n’rom patients, contributions from J the societies who join in the schema, f 'and the donations of private citizens, j