Isn't it sad that the government saves hundreds of millions of dollars by not building adequate hsopital facilities for such a remote country as Australia, and then ask the community to support fixed and rotary wing EMS to transport people to the few facilities they have built? Why dont they either A) Build the facilities, or B) Fund the transportation system in lieu?
I have to agree thoroughly with the policy of not telling the pilot the medical situation - does the RFDS not do this? The question from the medical people should be - can you or cant you legally do it? If you cant do it legally, what rules need to be broken, and what are the risks involved with these rule transgressions, and how do you minimise them? Then the medical people decide if they would like to request a mercy flight based on the risk management outlined in the AIP - I.E. Life or Death with NO other means of transport, NO other medical care available, NO delay to improving conditions is acceptable, etc, etc.
To single pilot ops, I agree with several of the sentiments expressed above. Just because the accident involved a single pilot does not mean that this is the reason for the accident, nor that all single pilot flights should be stopped. That is akin to saying all night flights should be stopped, or all B200 flights should be stopped. The problem with second pilots, however, has been that they are traditionally trained to meet minimum legal requirements rather than be a fully functional crew member a la the bigger airlines, reference Monarch. This training means MONEY. That brings us back to governmental support.......and around we go.