Hundreds of kms offshore – but time is of the essence

Penny Bee has been a flight midwife for 25 years, but a recent mission rattled her nerves a little as she says they were “flying into the unknown”.

“We had a seriously ill woman, and we didn’t know if we were going to arrive to one patient or two. Add to that the remoteness of her location and this job was incredibly complex,” Penny says.

It’s this mission in 2023 which Penny and her colleague, neonatal retrieval nurse Jacinda Duffy, are speaking about at the 2025 Aeromed Conference: 40 Years of Critical Care in the Air, held in Hobart, Australia, from 24 – 26 September.

Penny and Jacinda, along with the New Zealand Flying Doctor Operations Manager Arthur Ruddenklau and Nelson-based pilot Rupert MacLauchlan, are being supported to attend this conference by the New Zealand Flying Doctor Trust.

The case Penny and Jacinda are presenting on involved a pre-term pregnant woman on a remote island who was having an antepartum haemorrhage – a critical condition that requires immediate medical attention.

“Communications were down and our options for transporting the woman off the remote island to the nearest medical facility were very limited. We also didn’t know whether the woman would deliver the baby prior to our arrival, so we had to plan for every eventuality,” Penny says.

The logistical requirements for the job were complex. They needed two fixed wing aircraft, a midwife, ICU Flight nurse, Neonatal consultant and a transport nurse with an incubator. They also had to take emergency blood, as supplies on the island were not sufficient.

The job was also time critical, as they need to land the two aircraft prior to sunset.

“This was an incredibly complex job which, due to limited communications, saw us leave without knowing exactly what was going on.

“We were very fortunate that an obstetric consultant from Christchurch was running a clinic on the island at the time.”

The outcome was positive for mother and baby, with the New Zealand Flying Doctor Service flying the woman to Christchurch, arriving at Christchurch Women’s Hospital in time to be taken to theatre for her baby’s arrival.

Jacinda Duffy, who has been on the neonatal retrieval team for eight years, says this job was one of the most logistically challenging cases she has worked on.

“We discussed many options for the safest way to reach this woman and transport her, and potentially her baby, to the specialist care they required. This job involved many specialists and services all working together for the good of the patient; we are so delighted that it had a happy ending,” Jacinda says.

Jacinda and Penny are looking forward to presenting this case at the Aeromed Conference, which has been made possible thanks to support from the New Zealand Flying Doctor Trust.

“Being able to attend the Aeromed Conference is an amazing opportunity that will give us an opportunity to connect and learn from colleagues around the world who are carrying out specialist air retrieval work,” Jacinda says.

“I am sure we’re going to learn so much and we are so thankful to the New Zealand Flying Doctor Trust for enabling this opportunity,” Penny says.