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While many associate Brisbane Airport with the excitement of holidays or traveling for work, for some Queenslanders it’s the gateway to access critical care when they need it most.
Nestled in the corner of Brisbane Airport’s aeromedical precinct you’ll find LifeFlight’s hangar, home to an AW139 helicopter and Challenger 604 air ambulance jet.
In many places across the state where access to medical care can take hours by road or is not an option, LifeFlight offers a lifeline of hope. Its Brisbane location makes it an invaluable hub due to its proximity to some of Australia’s leading hospitals.
July 2025 marked 10 years since LifeFlight’s Brisbane-based helicopter, Rescue 533, began operating out of Brisbane Airport. Since 2015, the base has grown into one of their busiest and most advanced operations, introducing flight nurses to the crew, transitioning from the B412 to the AW139 helicopter, and supporting thousands of Queenslanders through lifesaving missions.
LifeFlight’s hangar is a hive of activity and fully operational 24/7. It’s not unusual for the Brisbane-based crew to undertake three to four missions a day. The top five mission categories they typically respond to are cardiac conditions, neonatal/paediatric, illness/infection, respiratory conditions, and stroke/neurological conditions. In the last financial year, the Brisbane-based LifeFlight crew alone helped more than 550 people.
Vital to this aeromedical operation are LifeFlight’s critical care doctors, who work in the helicopters alongside flight nurses and paramedics. Their crews are perfectly equipped to look after critically ill patients, specialising in high acuity hospital transfers.
LifeFlight is the largest employer of pre-hospital medics in Australia, with more than 180 medical staff working on board their helicopter services across the state. Twice a year they welcome new cohorts of doctors.
As part of their rigorous training schedule ahead of joining our crews, doctors are tipped upside down in a simulated underwater helicopter crash, have their knowledge tested in realistic clinical scenarios and are winched into the sky.
Koichi Yasuda joined LifeFlight’s Brisbane-based crew in August 2025. Originally from Japan, he worked at Gold Coast University Hospital’s Emergency Department for the past 10 years.
Through his work in emergency medicine, Dr Yasuda met several doctors working in retrieval medicine. One of his colleagues strongly recommended he apply for a retrieval registrar job with LifeFlight.
“Retrieval medicine involves making quick decisions often at the scene of an incident where someone needs life-saving medical care,” he said. His time at the LifeFlight Training Academy equipped him with the tools to tackle the physical, mental and medical challenges he will face in the field.
Along with Dr Yasuda, LifeFlight welcomed Dr Andrew Flint, Dr Simon Carter, Dr Manj Brom, Dr Elsie Cotterell, Dr Tanvi Karnik, Dr Colin Mak and Dr Phil Wheeler who will be helping Queenslander's access critical care on board the Brisbane-based helicopter and air ambulance jet.
Next time you visit Brisbane Airport, keep an eye out for LifeFlight’s helicopters and jets, and know that whenever you may need aeromedical assistance, their crews will be ready to help.