It was 1981 when Maureen Roberts began her service as part of a medical air transportation team in Australia. Now, at the ripe age of 70 and a life filled with memories, she has retired from her services. Her last call for help was from a woman who was in urgent need of a kidney transplant.
Australia is country which does not boast the best road network, owing to its difficult natural landscape. Medical air transportation is fairly common in the country and is an inseparable part of medical services. Maureen was a part of this industry for 37 years.
Life as Part of Medical Air Transportation has Been Challenging
The septuagenarian was emotional as she bid her goodbyes to the medical air transportation company that has been her life all these years. She revealed how her experiences were a mix of challenges and immense satisfaction at the same time.
Maureen recalled how she had once delivered a baby mid air, about 5000 feet above the sea level. To add to the surprise emergency, the mother was not even in labor when she had boarded the medical air transportation vehicle. On a lighter note, Maureen joked that she would now have to pay for flights to look at the beautiful views that were so common to her aboard air ambulances. She said she was lucky to have flow over Harbor Bridge as part of work almost every day.
A Job for Women with Grit
Her colleagues, while conveying that they will miss her, showed their admiration. They said it’s not everyone’s cup of tea to serve with unshaken dedication for as long as Maureen did, that too in an environment that is often filled with stressful situations. Her colleagues and the hundreds of lives that she has touched will surely miss her.
