Research and Innovation
Since 1986, CareFlight has invested in clinical, aviation, logistics and business planning research projects.
In 1998, CareFlight introduced their specially designed Stretcher Bridge, the first portable intensive care module. The unit incorporates a ventilator, oxygen and suction capabilities, monitors, and infusion pumps. The development of this concept has shaped and simplified the cabin fit of subsequent air medical craft, both rotary and fixed-wing.
CareFlight designed and conducted the Head Injury Retrieval Trial (HIRT), the world's first randomised clinical trial to evaluate the benefits of rapidly transporting a doctor to patients with head injuries. Over the six-year period of the study (2006-2011), CareFlight responded to more than 1,500 patients. Most patients had been involved in motor vehicle accidents (the leading cause of brain injury from traumatic head injury), falls and other workplace accidents.
The HIRT research data indicated a 16 per cent reduction in deaths (45 percent to 29 percent) when unconscious patients are treated by a doctor. Former CareFlight Medical Director and Chief HIRT Investigator, Dr Alan Garner OAM, presented the results of this ground-breaking research at the 2012 International Conference for Emergency Medicine in Dublin.
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In April 2018, CareFlight became the first and only civilian aeromedical service in Australia to perform pre-hospital plasma transfusions as part of their rapid response helicopter service. Clinicians have described this development as a 'quantum leap' in emergency treatment. Experts suggest that, in certain cases, this innovative approach could save one in three people who would otherwise succumb to their injuries.
In 2019, CareFlight completed a research study looking at new technology for warming blood for use in pre-hospital blood transfusions. The first stage of the research confirmed the benefits of warming blood in emergency transfusions and the second stage tested different devices that can be used to rapidly warm blood in just minutes during the procedure. This research study, partially funded by the Medevac Foundation in the United States, was conducted in partnership with the cardiac anaesthesia services and blood bank at The Children's Hospital at Westmead.
Aircraft
In February 2021, CareFlight launched their Airbus H145 helicopter. The H145 was chosen for CareFlight's rapid response helicopter service as it can reach patients in its service area within 15 minutes.
In April 2021, CareFlight NT launched their Gulfstream G150 jet, Australia's first medical jet capable of transporting patients from south-east Asia. The G150 can fly 5,300 kilometres at a speed of 1,000 km/h, allowing it to travel from its base in Darwin to Sydney and Melbourne in under four hours.
