Picture the scene. An employee on a remote mine site requires medical treatment in Perth and because it’s not a severe illness or injury,the services of the Royal Flying Doctors is not warranted.. Enter stage left a brand new addition to the air ambulance scene, overseeing the safety of remote workers on industrial sites in Western Australia and beyond.
CitMed Air Ambulance, established in 2022 by Citadel Medical, helps provide a high level of medical care to clients and ultimately working to improve patient outcomes. This mission is driven by the belief that remote worksites should have access to high quality end-to-end medical care.
“Our aim is to improve health and wellbeing by providing expert medical services and holistic care solutions,” says Fin English, CEO and Founder of the organisation.
“We understand that remote communities and fly-in-fly-out work presents unique challenges. By challenging the norm, we are striving to instil a culture of compassion within the teams we work with.”
The addition of an air ambulance arm to Citadel Medical’s array of services was a natural next step, according to Mr English.
“Citadel Medical was established in 2019 as an occupational medical service company and we established CitMed Air Ambulance last year, we felt there was a gap in the market here in WA.
“We are also able to offer an end-to-end solutions by combining our site medical capability with our airambulance services to help us achieve our goal of delivering best patient outcomes.,” says Mr English.
When CitMed Air Ambulance are contacted,the patient is triaged and the appropriate service is activated, whether it be a full ICU level air ambulance, or a flight medical escort.
“We also manage all of the ground transport to ensure the patient gets to where they are going,” says Mr English.
“In our experience, it’s not uncommon for a patient to be ‘lost in the system’ when leaving a remote work site, and particularly for work-related cases, they can become harder to manage. Our
service ensures that all communications are aligned and the patient is transferred safely.”
In addition to offering this air ambulance service to Australian-based remote worksites, CitMed Air Ambulance, can also arrange for the transport of those suffering from a severe illness or injury overseas.
“We can be contacted either directly or through an insurance agency to send a dedicated air ambulance aircraft with ICU-level medical teams and equipment to transfer the patient to more definitive care,” says Mr English.
Whether a client engages CitMed Air Ambulance on an ongoing dedicated basis or on an ad hoc occasion, the advantages of being a non-state-run organisation means they are often able to provide more or less a guaranteed service.
“What we can offer is a flight medical escort service with a highly trained and experienced clinician to accompany the patient on a commercial flight, providing patient focused care and assistance
throughout their journey. This service significantly reduces costs, decreases waiting times and ensures best practice outcomes.
“It’s the perfect service for patients that may be unable to travel alone (perhaps due to medical or mental health conditions), who do not require a stretcher of high acuity medical care during the flight.”
CitMed Air Ambulance is supported by the experienced Citadel Medical cohort, led by Mr English who has over 20 years of experience in supervisory, clinical and emergency management and Josh Hay, who in addition to site medical services also brings air ambulance experience, both who have gained a deep understanding of the healthcare needs of remote workers in particular.
Dr Philip Martin is the company’s medical director, a well-recognised aero medical consultant and physician for some 49 years specialising in diving and hyperbaric medicine, aviation and retrieval medicine. He worked as an emergency doctor with RFDS WA for two decades and founded the International Aeromedicine Services, which established the first pure jet air ambulance service based in Perth. Dr Martin is supported by Brendon Vagg CitMed Air Ambulances Operations Manager.
CitMed Air Ambulance flight medical escort service, will significantly help build a safer, healthier and happier workplace for those who require a bespoke transfer from mine site to treatment room.
