AERIAL MEDICAL SERVICES FOR AUSTRALIAN INTERIOR.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20237, 22 February 1934, Page 8

AERIAL MEDICAL SERVICES FOR AUSTRALIAN INTERIOR.

A Sydney Letter.

The Romance of the Flying Doctor. Mr Stevens’s Plan for Cheaper Homes.

(Special to the "Star.”) SYDNEY. February 14. It is many years since the Rev John Flynn ("Flynn of the Inland, whose life-story has been told so impressively by Don Idriess) dreamed his dream of a medical service by aeroplane which would cover the whole vast area of North and Central Australia. Happier than most visionaries, he has lived to see his dream come true. For the past six years there has been an Aerial Medical Service for the North, based upon Cloncurry. which lies about 400 miles south of the Gulf, in Western Queensland

Jh’ROM THIS CENTRE, covering an area* of about 250,000 square miles—nearly as large as New South Wales—the “ Flying Doctor ” of the S.I.M. has kept in touch with all the scattered inhabitants of these vast regions and has brought them the help and comfort that medical knowledge and surgical skill provide so easily and naturally for the more fortunate dwellers in cities. For the past three years the post of “ Flying Doctor ” has been filled by Dr Alan Vickers. lie is only thirty-three years old. but in the last three years he has flown nearly 60,000 miles—five times the distance between Sydney and London—on his errands of mercy, and his record among the people of “ the North ” is worthy of comparison with that of “ Flynn of the Inland ” himself. Just Married. Dr Vickers has just been married—his wife is a Cloncurry girl, who knows what the work of the A.I.S. means—and he is now off on a honeymoon trip to Hong Kong. On his return, he will probably assist to establish another “ flying base ” in the vicinity of Brodine, in the north of Western Australia. Meantime, his work at Cloncurry and throughout the Aerial Medical Service area has been taken over by a New South Wales man—which may to some extent account for the recent revival of public interest here in the Inland Mission and its programme. Dr Rossell, the new “ Flying Doctor.” a Sydney University man, has been in practice at Orange for fourteen years, and might be expected to have “ settled down ” to a peaceful country life. But he has heard a great deal about the Aerial Medical Service through Dr Vickers’s friends, and Mrs Rossell has always been interested in the Inland Mission, which inaugurated the system, so they are off to these Northern wilds to fill the “ Flying Doctor’s ” place, at least for the time. 800 Miles a Day. The duties of such a position are naturally onerous in the extreme. Dr Vickers has often had to fly 800 miles in one day and night to succ-pur a patient, and on one occasion his errand of mercy took him 2600 miles from Cloncurry and back. The mission is subsidised by the Queensland Government, and the doctor, of course, receives a salar\ r . But the people pay no regular fee for the services so generously rendered. The primary purpose of the A.M. Service is to give remote pioneers a sense of safety and to encourage the upbuilding of family life in areas which have suffered from the absence of women and children. Safe for Women. As Mr Flynn told Ministers at Canberra not long ago, “It is now safe for white women to live in the Northern Territory and the Far West out of the reach of hospital bases.” For with the aid of wireless and the aeroplane, help can now be brought in a few hours to the remotest corners of this great trackless region. In that country, as Dr Vickers explained the other day to the Millions Club, a settler might live 100 miles from his nearest neighbour and 1100 miles from a doctor; and at one time the only means of transit and transport were rough roads over which a patient could not safely be carried. But now—“ from the base sta-

tion medical advice can be broadcast, not only by Morse code, but by the direct voice,” and if advice is not sufficient “ the aeroplane will make a dash at eighty miles an hour to bring medicines or rush the sufferer to hospital.” Only the Foundation. And wonderful as all this is, it is only the foundation of a scheme much greater and more comprehensive. When John Flynn recently tried to describe to the members of the Federal Cabinet at Canberra what his service has done to make this part of Australia—“ sun-scorched, antridden and fly-blown ” —safe for humanity he warned Ministers that he would go further. He has drafted a plan for six aerial bases—Cloncurry alone costs £3OOO a year, and the whole scheme will cost £35.000 a year*; but “it would be worth millions for the sense of security that it would give ” to the people who must some dav inhabit these regions. Flynn proposes to organise his scheme on national lines, providing for control not only by the Inland Mission but by representatives of the pastoralists’ unions, the A.W.U. and the State and Federal Governments as well. It is a wonderful project, but happily for Australia there are men like Flynn and Vickers and Rossell ready and waiting to carry it to realisation. A Home-Building Scheme. The New South Wales Government has announced a scheme for the State-aided building of homes in Svdnev and suburbs and the country centres. The scheme is to be financed through the Rural Bank, now reconstructed, which will advance 75 per cent of the value of the property, repayable in thirty rears, while the State advances another 10 per cent, repayable in ten years. The rate of interest in either case is not to exceed 5 per cent. The plan is to apply to homes of a maximum value of £IOOO, on wffiich the weekly repayment covering principal and interest will be £1 3s 6d. These payments range down to 11s lOd per week for a home valued at £500: and considered even as rental the charge does not seem heavy. Moreover, after ten years, when the Government’s advance has been repaid, the rate of weekly repayment -will be considerably reduced. But it must be remembered that the remaining 15 per cent not covered by these advances must be found bv the purchaser or—as the scheme rather optimistically suggests—his employer. In the case of a £IOOO property, the tenant —or his employer—would have to find £l5O, and in the case of a £SOO, he w'ould need £75; and this is regarded by many people as an almost insuperable difficulty. An Objection. Mr Stevens describes his scheme as an essential step in an extensive plan to deal with slum areas and improve the housing of the community. But it is hard to imagine any of the people who have gravitated to “ slum areas ” finding a considerable sum of money for such a purpose, and as they are mostly “ workless workers ” they would look in vain for an employer generous and wealthy enough to guarantee them. This obvious objection has been emphasised by all the hostile critics, who have also laid stress upon the relatively high rate of interest required.