Anyone who has experienced or witnessed the excruciating pain of a severe burns injury knows the critical importance of a quick response, and the value of the Royal Flying Doctor Service's latest appeal.
It was something that four-year-old Archie Buick and his parents discovered after a tragic accident at his family home in Richmond when he lost his balance and slipped and fell into a fire pit.
Despite being only metres away from his son at the time, Archie's dad Nick was unable to stop the terrible incident from happening.
"Archie screamed like I'd never heard him scream before," Nick said. "It was pretty horrific, and we just started putting water on the burn before I decided we had to get him to hospital straight away."
Archie was driven to the nearby Richmond Hospital by his parents before being flown by the RFDS to the Townsville University Hospital, 500km away, for specialist treatment, including skin grafts.
While he is now home and recovering, Archie's story is nothing new to RFDS medical crews, with more than 70 burns patients flown by the service to emergency care in Queensland each year.
RFDS (Queensland Section) CEO Meredith Staib said Archie's story and the incredible resilience he showed during the ordeal, will hopefully inspire people to help those in a similar situation.
It has set a goal of raising $255,280 during its Burns Appeal, with a goal of purchasing specialist burns kits for every Flying Doctor aircraft across the state.
"With burns patients, time is absolutely critical in successfully treating the wounds," Ms Staib said.
"If every one of our medical crews have the right equipment when they need it, they can deliver the best care possible while flying patients to specialist burns units."
Supporters have responded with the same enthusiasm that they've shown in the 92 years that the RFDS has operated, raising just over $150,000 to date.
Ms Staib said that while only 70 or so of the 11,500 patients transported yearly by the RFDS might suffer burns injuries, being able to deliver the finest care with the right equipment made a world of difference to those people and to their ongoing recovery.
The RFDS Burns Appeal runs from February 24 to the beginning of May.
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