Sunshine Coast-based LifeFlight doctor Carly Silvester is the master of juggling work and a busy family life.
The 42-year-old mother of two can’t afford to be anything other than highly organised with multiple jobs across LifeFlight, Retrieval Services Queensland (RSQ) and Noosa Hospital.
It’s why she says she would be lost without her monthly wall calendar, although she has her phone, computer calendars and an old-fashioned paper diary as back up.
“But if it’s on the wall calendar,“ Carly says. “That’s the truth.“
Carly spoke ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March, which aims to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.
She is the measured voice on the other end of the phone who helps manage Queensland’s pre-hospital medical emergencies on land and sea.
“Managing these life-threatening missions is a constant reminder of all the things that can go wrong for people,“ she says.
“So that reminds me to make the best of every opportunity that comes my way. I’m constantly pushing to reframe my life to make the most of the time I’ve got.“
Every fortnight she works in a tele-medical advisory service for maritime missions for LifeFlight. If someone’s sick in Australian waters, Carly can be woken up in the middle of the night to help.
Last year she helped a crewman on a vessel 12 hours from the nearest port who fell down a 10-metre shaft and ended up with a head injury, broken legs and bleeding that was difficult to control.
“I helped his crew through the night in phone calls, emails, and video conferences to ensure he had the pain relief he needed and appropriate wound care and bleeding control.“
Carly taught the captain of another ship how to suture one of his sailors who was injured and two days from the nearest port.
And then there’s her twice-a-month LifeFlight critical care doctor shifts on the Sunshine Coast where she flies out on the helicopter to all sorts of medical emergencies.
“It’s the best job,’ Carly says.
“The people who work at LifeFlight are very self-motivated to be the best that they can be.
“They are constantly training, reviewing, analysing and discussing cases they’ve been a part of so that we can all work together on how we can do better next time.
“It’s a really nice culture to be a part of.“
She says it’s rewarding to serve the community with the skills and training she’s acquired throughout her career.
“I believe in equity of health care, and LifeFlight is a key part of providing access to expert critical care in Queensland.“
Carly was the doctor who winched down from 200 feet when Maverick Robbins crashed his paraglider into Rainbow Beach sandstone cliffs in late 2024.
The mission was picked up by media outlets internationally.
“That job was really challenging from a rescue perspective, and we drew on a combination of years of training and expertise to put that rescue together,“ she says.
“We are called to extract patients from often precarious and dangerous situations.
“So, we are winching above mountains for stranded rock climbers and picking up dirt bike riders who’ve come off trails, and snakebite patients from rural properties, and people in farming and machinery accidents and immersions on remote beaches and islands. And we also go to a lot of highway road accidents.“
Once a fortnight she uses her emergency and pre-hospital skills at Kedron’s Retrieval Services Queensland. She’s multi-tasking in an experienced, dynamic team that manages dozens of pre-hospital and interfacility medical airlifts a day.
She reviews cases, determines how quickly the patient needs to be moved and what medical staff is needed and then liaises with retrieval doctors and paramedics as well as hospital medical teams offering clinical advice before aeromedical teams arrive.
“We move a lot of patients around Queensland,“ Carly says. “We are trying to do our best for as many people as possible. While it can be stressful, it’s really a rewarding job and I feel that I’m helping to give people the best possible care available.“
In another role, she works six nights a month in the 10-bed Noosa Hospital emergency department helping locals who have had a serious accident or illness.
She also manages LifeFlight’s international jet repatriation medical cases twice a month as a medical coordinator for the company’s four-strong air ambulance fleet.
“There’s lots of moving parts to this job,“ Carly says. “We’re usually trying to get these patients back home as quickly as possible. Every case is so different. It’s so interesting.“
Carly says she feels relief that she has the skills needed to lead and instruct those around her about what needs to happen.
“It’s just about making it happen, knowing how to prioritise immediate needs verses quickly getting a patient to hospital.“
Her multi-tasking skills spill over into her home life because her children, Ava in Year 6 and Theo in Year 4, have daily extra-curricular activities.
She says she has the support of her husband Hugh but there is still a lot of everyday pressure.
“The juggle is real,“ she says. “It’s mental some days.“
She recently had to borrow hand-me-down soccer boots for her son from a friend’s child because she didn’t get around to that before school started.
“Sometimes you need to let a few balls drop, because you can always pick them up later and it’s OK not to be everything all at once,“ she says.
“I’m just mum to my kids. They are humbling little terrors. I’m just a daggy, embarrassing mum.“
