Rio Tinto will contribute $5 million towards the establishment of Australia's first emergency jet service for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, where jets will be able to fly from Kununurra to Perth in three hours.
Rio Tinto will contribute $5 million towards the establishment of Australia's first emergency jet service for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, where jets will be able to fly from Kununurra to Perth in three hours.
The $11.4 million partnership, called the Rio Tinto Life Flight, will halve the time it takes for the RFDS' aircrafts to make the journey from the Kimberley region to Perth.
The service will provide a free-of-charge, community medical jet service to patients in need of evacuation when time and distance are critical.
RFDS chief executive Tim Shackleton said the partnership was a ground-breaking move for emergency aeromedical services.
"It is a great leap forward for the RFDS, and a dream come true for people in the bush," Mr Shackleton said. "It will help to overcome the tyranny of distance in remote and regional areas."
Rio Tinto will contribute $5 million to establish the jet service while the RFDS will contribute medical and nursing staff and equipment.
The jet will be able to fly from Kununurra to Perth in three hours, halving the time it takes the RFDS to make this journey in its existing turbo-prop aircraft.
"With the invaluable support of Rio Tinto we will be able to deliver a faster, more effective service to very sick people, especially those we need to transport over the exceptionally long flying distances unique to Western Australia. In an emergency, every minute counts," Mr Shackleton said.
"It heralds the start of a new era for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which celebrates its 80th year of service to the community this year," he said.
The leased Rio Tinto Life Flight jet will meet RFDS standards, becoming an airborne intensive care unit staffed by highly-trained doctors and nurses on a round the clock roster.
Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Sam Walsh said the partnership reflected a strong commitment to the regional and remote communities in which most Rio Tinto employees lived and worked.
"We are acutely aware that the rapid expansion of communities in regions such as the Pilbara, Kimberley and Gascoyne has created an urgent imperative for a faster, more direct medical retrieval service," Mr Walsh said.
"We are proud to support Australia's first and only RFDS-operated jet service. We believe the service will help close the gap in health service availability between the city and the country."
Mr Walsh said the partnership complemented Rio Tinto's broad range of health investments in the state and nationally, such as the Aboriginal health partnership with the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and a commitment of $1 million over four years towards the RFDS aircraft replacement appeal.
The Rio Tinto Life Flight jet service is expected be flying by the end of the year, and is expected to transport about 500 patients in the first 12 months.