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IMAGE: Royal Flying Doctor Service personnel undertook 17,000 retrievals in remote areas of Australia in the first half of 2020. view more
Credit: Royal Flying Doctor Service
New data released this week by Australian researchers reveals the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown period on aeromedical retrievals in rural and remote regions.
Researchers say while the social isolation measures led to a reduction in overall aeromedical activity during the lockdown in 2020, once the restrictions were lifted, evacuations increased significantly.
These findings are published in the
Internal Medicine Journal, comparing aeromedical evacuation trends in Australia during the pre-restriction, lockdown and post-restriction periods last year.