Michelle Stirling1
1Royal Flying Doctor Service
Biography:
Michelle brings a wealth of experience and passion to her role as an IPC professional with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Western Australia. With a Master of Public Health and a background spanning hospital care, aged care, public health and WA’s pandemic emergency response — Michelle now provides infection control expertise across a diverse range of RFDS services including aeromedical, dental, primary and industrial healthcare in some of the most remote and challenging environments in the country. Michelle offers insights into how innovation, adaptability, and collaboration help protect health in places where resources are limited but the need is great.
Abstract:
In acute pre-hospital care, the first hours of a high consequence infectious disease (HCID) response can determine the safety of the patient, retrieval crew, receiving facility and community. HCIDs are rare, difficult to recognise early, may have limited treatment options, and require coordinated system responses. For aeromedical services, delivering Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) impact means turning specialist guidance into rapid, practical decisions in constrained and remote environments.
Royal Flying Doctor Service of Western Australia (RFDS WA) provides aeromedical retrieval across one of the world’s largest and most remote health jurisdictions. RFDS WA developed a practical HCID roadmap addressing aircraft constraints, remote locations, limited specialist support, staff safety, patient isolation, transport logistics, communication pathways and decontamination. It guides teams from early recognition through retrieval planning, escalation, transport, workforce protection and recovery.
The roadmap strengthened organisational readiness by converting complex HCID guidance into clear, staged actions for acute pre-hospital and aeromedical teams. It supports consistent risk assessment, role clarity, personal protective equipment (PPE) planning, escalation to public health and specialist advice, and safer coordination between retrieval teams, receiving facilities and operational leaders.
IPC delivers impact when expert knowledge changes what happens at the point of care. The RFDS WA HCID roadmap operationalises IPC expertise for remote aeromedical retrieval, supporting preparedness, workforce confidence and safer care when delay, uncertainty or transmission could have significant consequences. In acute pre-hospital care, practical IPC systems turn readiness into action.