Technology Review - 'Mantle of Safety' - Aero-Medical Service in Central Australia

"Safety ... safety ... 'a mantle of safety'. We shall cast our mantle of safety over the Inland." These were the famous words of Reverend John Flynn¹, founder of the Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). He began his Christian missionary work in 1911 at a time when there were only two doctors serving an area of 15,00,000 square kilometres in the Northern Territory. Flynn realised that the problems of distance and communication resulted in people dying from lack of prompt medical attention. Two essential commodities- air transport and radio were needed to conquer the isolation.