Jodi Hamilton’s mum always told her the roar of a Royal Flying Doctor Service plane was the sound of a lifeline. Hamilton’s mother Barbara Shephard was a nurse in the remote Queensland town of Coen for five decades, often working hand-in-hand with the aeromedical service. One of her last jobs was overseeing the medical evacuation of her husband, who suffered burns to 30 per cent of his body in an accident 13 years ago. He survived as a result of their work.
” It inspired Hamilton to explore improved palliative services for the Coen community, informed by her administration work at the local primary health care centre. Most people are flown 500km away to Cairns for end-of-life treatment, leaving their families behind, or are nursed by relatives in often overcrowded houses. Hamilton is working to establish a community palliative care centre in the old Coen hospital.