Autumn 2026 FNA Newsletter
07th April 2026
President Hayden's Yarn
President’s Report April 2026 Flight Nurses Australia
As we move through the first part of the year, it’s hard to believe how quickly 2026 is already progressing. The months seem to be moving at pace, and with that comes a great deal of activity across our community of flight nurses.
With Easter recently upon us, I would like to take a moment to extend warm Easter greetings to all our members and their families. For many, the holiday period provided a chance to rest and reconnect. However, we also know that a large number of our colleagues spent Easter doing what flight nurses do best, serving our patients and supporting our communities when they need it most. To those who worked across the holiday period, often in challenging and remote environments, thank you for your dedication and professionalism. Your commitment embodies the spirit of aeromedical nursing.
Planning for Aeromed 2026 in Darwin is well underway, and preparation is in full swing. This conference continues to be one of the most important gatherings for the aeromedical community across Australia and the region. Abstract submissions are now open, and I strongly encourage our flight nursing community to contribute and share the incredible work, innovation, and clinical expertise happening across our services. It would be fantastic to see flight nurses well represented this year.
Another opportunity to keep an eye out for in the coming weeks is the opening of the Kaye Melmeth Grant. This grant remains an important way we support professional development, research, and innovation within our profession. I encourage members to consider applying or supporting colleagues who may benefit from this opportunity.
I would also like to acknowledge and thank our new Editorial Committee Jade, Jessica, and John for the fantastic work they have already put into the newsletter. Their effort and commitment ensure we continue to share valuable updates, stories, and insights from across our flight nursing community.
You may also notice some exciting changes coming to our webinar program. We are currently refreshing and revitalising this series to ensure it continues to provide relevant and engaging professional development opportunities for our members. I look forward to sharing more details as they come. A big thank you to Bree and Jerry for their work behind the scenes in organising and coordinating this initiative.
As always, thank you to our members for the work you do every day and for the ongoing support you show to Flight Nurses Australia. I look forward to seeing many of you throughout the year and hopefully at Aeromed in Darwin.
Warm regards,
Hayden Wilson
President
Flight Nurses Australia
Social Media Spotlight of the Month
Pre-Hospital Nerds
Hosted by a HEMS MICA paramedic and an ED doctor, Prehospital Nerds is your go-to podcast and resource for sharp, real-world emergency care.
We cover clinical pearls, cases, gear, procedures, and prehospital decision-making—all with evidence, personality, and the occasional ridiculous moment.
🚨 Join the nerd squad.
📱@prehospitalnerds on all socials.
#PrehospitalNerds #FOAMed #EMS #HEMS #Paramedics #CriticalCare #TraumaCare #EmergencyMedicine #PrehospitalCare #EMT
APP of the Month (Free Open Access Medical Education)
FOAM Cortex :AI Clinical search tool
How can I access FOAM Cortex?
FOAM Cortex can be accessed via the internet, or via mobile app (iOS and Android).
- Desktop: FOAM Cortex can be accessed on the desktop via the URL (https://foamcortex.com/)
- Mobile: Access via iOS app or Android
Why is FOAM Cortex different from other AI clinical search tools?
Designed for speed in the ED
- The answers are concise and actionable, not long narrative text.
- Information is presented using:
- Bullet points
- Tables
- Structured layouts
- This format allows clinicians to find key details faster during high-acuity care.
Curated, permission-based content
- FOAM Cortex draws exclusively from Emergency Medicine and Critical Care FOAMed resources.
- All included resources have explicitly approved the use of their content.
- Sources are clearly attributed, with links back to the original FOAMed sites.
Built for clinicians
- Optimised for clinical decision-making
- Focused on practical EM workflows rather than general medical explanations
Check out Life in the fast lane for more info
https://litfl.com/foam-cortex-ai-em-clinical-search-tool/
Podcast of the Month
Ep 13 – Sam Immens, Critical Care Paramedic, Nurse, innovator and ASA Committee Member
Aeromedical Rescue & Retrieval
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/ep-13-sam-immens-critical-care-paramedic-nurse-innovator/id1627641503?i=1000679162239
Ep 14 – Dr Barry Kirby AO & Nurse Kila Dobo Koupere. Saving mothers and babies in remote PNG.
Aeromedical Rescue & Retrieval
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/ep-14-dr-barry-kirby-ao-nurse-kila-dobo-koupere-saving/id1627641503?i=1000744657969
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2OiRsFL5lkP4k0h33xMdbj?si=WzdffIbZTjuDb3AHxN07qg
REFLECTIONS ON AERO-MEDICAL RETRIEVAL: LESsONS FROM THE SKies
What happens when you trade a fully-equipped resus bay for a vibrating King Air aircraft cruising thousands of feet above the Australian outback?
For Mina Arsanious, anaesthetic registrar, expedition medic and faculty on our Expedition & Wilderness Medicine course in Melrose, Australia, this isn’t a hypothetical, it’s just another day at work with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
Mina’s medical career has taken him from high-altitude expeditions on Kilimanjaro to trauma cases in the desert, but it’s aero-medical retrieval that has truly shaped his perspective on emergency care in extreme environments.
Now featured in a brand-new episode of our World Extreme Medicine Podcast, Mina shares a raw and insightful look at the realities of providing critical care mid-flight, drawing on lessons learnt from years of flying into the unknown.
Drug Spotlight of the month
The Middle East war forces pharmaceutical companies to reroute critical medicines to ensure Australian supply.
Medicines Australia says pharmaceutical companies are redirecting critical medicines to ensure they arrive in Australia.
As well as the route closures, health industry stakeholders across the world are also concerned about the impact of other flow-on effects from the war.
What's next?
The federal government says it is closely monitoring medicines supply chains.
Infectious Diseases Alerts
Diphtheria: Public Health Alert Kimberley Population Health Unit (KPHU)
OC2026_05 KPHU-ClinicianAlert-Diphtheria-13Feb2026v2
Member Photos
RFDS WA Fortescue Heli med Service recent night ops retrieval to Fiona Stanley Hospital. Member photo by WA Retrieval Nurse Jade Martin.
Education Pearls
Owning the Hamilton T1
This 15 min video delves into the nuance of managing the Hamilton T1 ventilator. Please note it refers to some presets which differ from our ventilators. So have a play with our ventilators and refer to your clinical manual if in doubt. Click here to watch the video
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yX1svqqhlGnZaTLpG-jl6Lb7xO2hlzYo/view?usp=sharing
Mask Magic
Moves that make a difference for face-mask ventilation. Click the below link to read up on tips and tricks when performing face mask ventilation on kids, courtesy of the guys at Just Little Adults.
Mask Magic — Just Little Adults
Mask Magic – PDF Version here
News around the country
In 2026, CareFlight reflects on 20 years as part of the Northern Territory
Four days after birth, Alexis struggled to breathe. Her tiny body was jaundiced, and tests revealed a serious heart condition. With specialist surgery needed thousands of kilometres away, a CareFlight team flew her and her family to Melbourne, providing hospital level care for the entire journey. Within hours of landing, Alexis was in surgery.
Over the past twenty years, stories like Alexis’s have become a part of everyday life in the Northern Territory. This year, as the aeromedical provider marks two-decades operating in the Top End, it’s celebrating a milestone defined by the people who have shaped the service. From remote clinic staff and community leaders to pilots, engineers, doctors, nurses and local volunteers, CareFlight’s work in the Territory has always been a shared effort – built on showing up when it matters most.
Long-serving CareFlight NT crew member Thomas Vidins, Flight Nurse and Midwife, who spent years as a Registered Nurse at Royal Darwin Hospital before joining CareFlight in 2016, said it was the people, not the aircraft, that defined the work.
“You can land in a place you have never been before and still be welcomed straight away. People meet you on the strip, help however they can, and trust you with their family. That stays with you — it is never just a job,” Vidins said.
“In this job, we have the opportunity to be invited into unique situations and meet incredible people across the Top End. I love that we don’t just provide medical treatment, but we have the opportunity to care for those we carry.”
This deep connection to the Territory is rooted in the organisation’s early years. In 2006, while already conducting medical jet retrievals to and from Darwin, CareFlight began working closely with local partners to establish an even more reliable service – one that could get critically ill and injured patients to the advanced care they needed – quickly. What began as a service primarily supporting Australians overseas and international neighbours soon became vital to the Northern Territory, filling a critical need to transport Territorians to interstate hospitals for lifesaving treatment.
With each year, the realities of the Top End became clearer, and the service continued to evolve. Fixed wing aircraft were joined by a long-range rescue helicopter and supported by road-based transport and we introduced community education, strengthening the network of first responders in some of the most remote locations where those first critical minutes can make all the difference.
Today, aeromedical crews, road-based patient transport teams, specialist clinicians and support staff operate across an area of roughly six hundred thousand square kilometres. Alongside emergency retrievals, CareFlight supports inter hospital transfers, road-based patient transport, maritime response and community education, working with local health workers, volunteers and residents across the Territory.
CareFlight NT General Manager Jodie Mills-Mitchell said the milestone belonged to the Territory.
“This service exists the way it does because Territorians shaped it from the very beginning. We rely on community knowledge, strong local partnerships and people being willing to stand together in difficult moments,” they said.
“From complex multi-aircraft responses to reaching patients in remote regions, each mission we complete reflects a pattern of cooperation between Territorians, communities, health workers and crews working together. It is a story of Territorians standing together to make sure help reaches those who need it, when it matters most.”
That spirit of collaboration is at the heart of CareFlight’s work, and is especially vital in the Top End, where more than ninety per cent of patients assisted through medical retrieval services are First Nations people. This underscores the importance of strong, trusted relationships with communities and remote health clinics.
First Nations artist and proud YolÅ‹u woman from Galiwin’ku Community on Elcho Island said those partnerships were built on listening and respect.
“For us, it comes down to relationships. When services take the time to understand community and work properly alongside us, people feel safe.
“The dedication and hard work of the CareFlight team are deeply appreciated by our community, and their efforts have not gone unnoticed. Their work reaches far beyond transporting patients, it represents the collective effort of a skilled and committed national team providing lifesaving treatment and care. Their influence extends across states and generations, touching countless families and communities,” she said.
As CareFlight enters its next chapter in the Northern Territory, it remains grounded in the relationships that have shaped it from the beginning. With two decades of experience in the Top End, the focus remains on working alongside communities, health workers and local partners to provide dependable care and support Territorians for generations to come.
Defence News
New names, same missions By Flight Lieutenant Suellen Heath
January 1 was not just the start of a new year, it was also the establishment of 94 Wing and 294 Squadron, formally known as Health Services Wing (HSW) and Health Operational Conversion Unit (HOCU) respectively. The renaming aligns 94 Wing with all air command wings to conform to numerical designations, focusing on its operational role to provide agile health effects in support of airbases, flying operations, aeromedical evacuation and delivery of the global aeromedical evacuation system.
HSW was established in 2001, with Group Captain (now Air Commodore) Amanda Dines as the inaugural Officer Commanding HSW. This was the first time that all Air Force health assets were bought under centralised command and control, with the intent of better supporting and organising the capability across the force.
The previous Officer Commanding HSW (2023-2025) Group Captain John Rollo said the wing went through further changes in 2009, 2013 and now, to cement their role as Air Force’s deployed aeromedical experts and providers of healthcare when other aviators are away from home.
“I know as the wing continues into 94 Wing, it will grow and develop under its new nomenclature. Though the people and mission do not change, 94 Wing will provide excellence in care to those who need it, whenever and wherever Air Force and the ADF ask it of us,” Group Captain Rollo said.
“We will go with you, we will keep the fighting force available and we will bring you home.”
'This year sees the most significant upgrade to health equipment in a generation, as 94 Wing takes receipt of Joint Project 2060 (JP2060) Phase 3 – Health Care Capability, which will enable cutting-edge provision of care in the field and in the air.'
Over the past 25 years, HSW has been involved in significant events such as Operation Slipper, multiple operations in Timor Leste, peacekeeping missions around the world and several operations in support of civilian, humanitarian and disaster relief. These operations include relief to Pakistan following the devastating earthquake of 2005, the evacuation of civilians from Afghanistan and the transportation of casualties from the White Island disaster in New Zealand.
The current Officer Commanding 94 Wing Group Captain Toby Leslie said the wing’s mission is effectively the same, but the ability to provide the care and ways in which 94 Wing achieve their mission is certainly evolving.
“This year sees the most significant upgrade to health equipment in a generation, as 94 Wing takes receipt of Joint Project 2060 (JP2060) Phase 3 – Health Care Capability, which will enable cutting-edge provision of care in the field and in the air,” Group Captain Leslie said.
“This project provides us with state-of-the-art deployable health equipment and infrastructure.
“This is a steep change for our capabilities, which we are now shaping to ensure that we are agile in response, scalable in effect and capable in delivery.”
By the same token, the newly named 294 Squadron is crucial to training clinically combat-ready Air Force health personnel, using realistic simulated patients and, at times, simulated hostile civilians to ensure personnel are ready to respond to anything they may encounter.
'We will go with you, we will keep the fighting force available and we will bring you home.'
Commanding Officer 294 Squadron Wing Commander Jason Lynam said the key professional initial employment training and conversion courses run by 294 Squadron included:
- aeromedical evacuation and military critical care aeromedical evacuation team
- operational health support
- trauma nursing
- early management of severe trauma
- Blue Room virtual reality environment supporting AE training and tactical care of the combat casualty and high acuity
- high consequence clinical courses.
“HOCU was formed on April 1, 2009, and was responsible for clinical and operational training for health services personnel as the single centre of excellence for the delivery of health training for Air Force,” Wing Commander Lynam said.
“In addition to the delivery of training, HOCU also had responsibility for the provision of technical oversight and standardisation of health training.
“Now as 294 Squadron, we will continue to provide this critical training, while enhancing the training we provide by using our specialist medical reserve workforce to evaluate and develop in-depth, intense, lifesaving courses to ensure health personnel are as prepared as possible to save lives with the equipment ADF have.”
Group Captains Rollo and Leslie agreed the ability of 94 Wing to deploy rapidly and with significant lifesaving effect is what makes it unique in the ADF structure.
“Our environmental health teams will be one of the first on the ground to protect the force and the aviation medical specialists will keep the flying force airborne,” they said.
“Whether the medical care is delivered by a medic with the Agile Medical Suite or a surgical team supported by air mobile theatre staff, pathology labs, radiology, ICU beds, an ED unit, primary health care, physios, dentists and/or mental health practitioners, we will bring what is needed, wherever and whenever we are needed.”
Human Factors Hot Minute
A great article from our friends at Life in the Fast Lane
Learn or Blame: Cognitive Bias, Just Culture, and Adverse Events in Healthcare
“That patient you saw yesterday…”
We’ve all been there; your heart sinks, your spine stiffens, you are unsure if you can trust the person speaking to you, but you hope that they make it go away.
This post isn’t for those hearing those words; it’s for those saying those words and those who are partaking in an adverse patient safety event investigation.
Your clinical excellence, administrative station and even experience are beside the point. It’s your mindset that’s key.
The point is the recommendations – if you can’t point to how work-as-done itself has changed (ie: your recommendations are a virtual filing cabinet of PDFs asking people to try harder not to make mistakes), you probably don’t have the ‘no blame’ culture you think you do.
Learn or Blame: Cognitive Bias, Just Culture, and Adverse Events in Healthcare
We review two infamous live-TV errors to explore how our instinct to blame undermines learning after adverse events. Unpacking the cognitive biases of review that shape morbidity and mortality meetings, coronial cases and litigation: hindsight bias (“how could they not have seen this coming?”), outcome bias (judging decisions purely by how badly it turned out), the fundamental attribution error (blaming character rather than context), counterfactual thinking (“they should have…”, “failure to…”) and proximity bias (focusing only on the person at the sharp end, not the system at the blunt end).
Framed through Sidney Dekker’s view of human error, we contrast a retributive just culture (“which rule was broken and how do we punish it?”) with a restorative just culture (“who was harmed, what do they need, and how do we change the system?”). This leads to local rationality (what made sense to clinicians at the time given their goals, attention and knowledge), goal conflict, the efficiency–thoroughness trade-off, and the idea of second victims — all firmly grounded in everyday clinical work, hand hygiene “non-compliance”, EMR usability, and real incident review.
Key themes for clinicians
- You can either learn or blame after an incident—you can’t meaningfully do both.
- “Human error” should be the starting point of an investigation, never its conclusion.
- A true just culture assumes people came to work to do the right thing, and focuses on redesigning conditions, not punishing inevitable mistakes.
You can either learn or blame you cant do both – Short Video
https://vimeo.com/1145117659?fl=pl&fe=sh
Upcoming Conferences
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Conference registration
Registration
Registration and accommodation bookings will open on Monday, 16 March 2026.
Early Registration Closes
An early registration discounted fee will be offered and will be available until Friday, 14 August.
2026 Aeromed - Registration - Individual
CRANA 2026 Rural & Remote Nursing & Midwifery Conference Perth
CRANA Registration Registration – CRANAplus
Networks
Western Australia Prehospital & Retrieval Medicine Network
The WA PHRM Network is a newly established community of practice dedicated to uniting clinicians, support staff, students, and educators across the pre-hospital and retrieval medicine landscape.
Upcoming event Friday 29th May – Curtin University
Get tickets here How It's Done. Tickets, Friday, May 29 from 6 pm to 9 pm | Eventbrite
Upcoming Courses/CPD
Coast Resuscitation Group – QLD /NSW upcoming courses ALS2 & TNCC
Medical Training Solutions, Perth Upcoming courses
The courses offered by Medical training Solutions are taught in accordance with the Australian Resuscitation Council guidelines, ensuring the teaching is standardised. Both advanced life support courses (ALS 1 and ALS 2) are recognised throughout Australia.
Our Paediatric Advanced Life Support, PIVC / IO / BC, and Acute Wound Management and Closure courses are endorsed by ACN.according to our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Endorsed Course Standards. They have allocated CPD hours according to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia – Continuing Professional Development Standard.
Click here to access Courses | Medical Training Solutions | Australia
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