ANESTHESIA IN RURAL QUEENSLAND - CLINICAL-EXPERIENCE WITH THE FLYING OBSTETRIC AND GYNECOLOGY SERVICE

The Flying Obstetric and Gynaecology (FOG) service visits 27 outback t owns scattered over approximately one million square kilometres of wes tern Queensland The role and workload of an anaesthetist attached to t he FOG Service and a prospective audit of 760 consecutive anaesthetics over a ten-month period are reported Flying anaesthetists are in an i deal position to review standards of equipment, staffing levels, anaes thetic assistance in theatre as well as participate in both medical an d nursing rural training programs. This ensures that deficiencies in a naesthetic related areas are identified and appropriate action taken. The challenge to rural practitioners must be to provide a service, of at least an equivalent standard to that of their metropolitan counterp arts.