Royal Flying Doctor Brian Collings retires
Senior Base Medical Officer Dr Collings retired after nearly 15 and a half years of service with the Australian air ambulance Royal Flying Doctor Service
His inaugural odyssey took him into outback Western Australia, responding to an Aboriginal elder who was experiencing symptoms of a heart attack in a remote community in the Kimberley. Arriving at the remote airstrip, he was greeted by the entire community, who hurried him along to the patient who was clutching his chest in distress.
After an electrocardiogram was conducted and medication administered, colour returned to his patient who was relieved from his predicament.
The community responded by erupting in applause and cheers and a bemused Dr Collings remembered thinking to himself: "Gee! This is a good job! I'm going to really love this!"
Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Dr Collings trained to become a doctor in South Africa and worked as a rural GP in Underberg, a dairy and cattle farming community in the Mzimkulu River valley of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
It's where he also discovered his passion for flying and he secured a pilot's license. His first big move was to England from South Africa. It was wet and windy and Dr Collings joked that there wasn't enough uncontrolled airspace for his liking.
One day, his wife while reading the British Medical Journal spotted an advertisement for a job with the Flying Doctor in Western Australia. The job, which combined both his passion for aviation and medicine, immediately piqued his interest. One thing led to another and Dr Collings soon swapped the sub-zero temperatures of England for the hot and humid climate of Derby in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
When asked how he intends to spend his retirement, Dr Collings said he will continue to consult doing medical check-ups for aviators and in his spare time, will play keyboard and get stuck into some woodwork. "It's the best job I've ever had, I enjoyed every minute. My time with the Flying Doctor was like a vocation rather than a job.
"People with the Flying Doctor often go far beyond the call of duty and it has been a privilege. I will greatly miss my colleagues and my patients but won't miss the paperwork and accreditation."
Clara Bullock
Clara Bullock is a writer for ITIJ and AirMed&Rescue. Initially a freelance writer for publications ranging from gardening news to music magazines, she has made the transition to writing about the ins and outs of travel insurance and aeromedicine. In her spare time she reviews books on Instagram and eats pasta.