Virtual Museum EMS History

Air Ambulances

Australian Flying Doctor Service vehicles in 1954

During World War One, aviation moved from experimentation to a powerful military force, and following the war, with a surplus of aircraft in circulation, new uses were found for the aircraft. This included the conversion of planes throughout the world in to ambulance planes. Although in 1917 , Lieutenant Clifford Peel, a medical student, outlined a system of fixed-wing aircraft and ground facilities designed to provide medical services to the Australian Outback , the first custom built air ambulances did not come in to existence until the late 1920s. These ideas became reality under the guidance of the Very Reverend John Flynn in 1928 when the Australian Inland Mission service established the Aerial Medical Service, a one year experimental program. Physicians in this program had several responsibilities, one of which was to fly out to a patient, treat the patient, and fly the patient to a hospital if the physician could not deliver adequate care on scene. Eventually, this experiment became the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia .^[13]

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^13.  Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.

Keywords: aircraft

Last Revision Date: 6/25/07 - 3:34 PM