Angel Flight

Posted by Ian Macfarlane
The unique and outstanding Angel Flight organisation was established by a Brisbane business man Bill Biristow in 2003.The   headquarters are in Brisbane but the free service is Australia wide.
Since then the organisation has grown rapidly. 
 
Last year more than 23,000 flights had occurred since 2003 carrying passengers from remote outback areas needing urgent specialist medical and or counselling services which could only be provided in major city centres such as Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. They typically average 20 flights per day with volunteer drivers collecting patients and taking them to their destination from local airports such as Essendon & Moorabbin.

Our speaker Warren Sparrow (right, with Chairman Katrina Flinn) gave several examples of how the service works and why it has been so successful: a Child from Balranald in NSW was air lifted  to Essendon Airport by a volunteer pilot and then taken to Monash Hospital by one of 400 volunteer drivers such as Warren.The success of the service is the saving of time from the patient's home to where they need to go. A trip from outback Queensland to Brisbane could take days whereas a flight can have the patient to their destination in just hours.

The request to receive this service comes from a local GP who is registered with Angel Flights. The costs to provide this free service to patients comes from private corporations there is no government funding. Outback communities who have appreciated this service raise funds and donations received include;  The Birdsville Races and the Stony Creek Mini Muster which raised $21,000 last year.The biggest expense about 85% of total costs is aviation fuel and associated aviation costs. The registered owner pilots provide their service free of charge.
 
The founder Bill Bristow was made Queensland Australian of the year 2005 and received an Order of Australia in 2009.