Caitlin’s lifesaving flight from Lightning Ridge
When 32-week pregnant Caitlin Finne began Mother’s Day in 2023 with breakfast in bed, she had no idea that the day would end with a flight in a Royal Flying Doctor Service aircraft and the premature birth of her son.
After a relaxing start to the day, the situation quickly turned into an emergency.
Earlier in her pregnancy, Caitlin had been diagnosed with gestational diabetes and placenta previa, where the placenta is low in the uterus and can cause bleeding.
This placed her at a high risk and when she felt pain and contractions, she knew something wasn’t right. She went to the local medical facility in Lightning Ridge.
Caitlin was in labour and had started to lose blood. Her bleeding became worse, and a transfusion was required. Because the local medical service didn’t have any on site, the blood needed to be rushed by police from Walgett, almost an hour away.
With the situation becoming serious, a critical care doctor with additional blood was sent from Tamworth while a Newborn and paediatric Emergency Transport Service (NETS) was also dispatched in case the baby was born at Lightning Ridge and required critical care.
Caitlin had to get to the nearest hospital birthing ward as quickly as possible, and with Lightning Ridge more than four hours from Dubbo by road, flying was the only option.
The Flying Doctor were despatched from the base in Dubbo, with Doctor Peter Brendt and flight nurse Fabian Schuelke on board and when they arrived, they prepared Caitlin for transfer.
“It was a scary day, but everyone was so comforting. They were all just talking to me and keeping me calm,” Caitlin said.[…]
Read more local news in the printed edition of The Western Herald.
To subscribe call (02) 6872 2333 today and receive The Western Herald in your letterbox next week!
Comments