The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) was founded in Queensland in 1928 by the Presbyterian minister John Flynn to give people living in the Australian Outback regular access to medical treatment. Twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year, an extensive radio network enables medical personnel to keep in touch with people in outposts such as homesteads, Aboriginal missions, prospectors' camps, and small hospitals. Flying doctors provide medical advice over the radio and can prescribe drugs from standard medical kits kept by patients. In emergencies, doctors fly to patients or patients are flown to the hospital.
