General News
12 July, 2025
Free crucial medical help
CAIRNS-based LifeFlight critical care specialist Dr Ritvik Gilhotra works onboard the Queensland Government Air (QGAir) helicopter and knows how important the first minutes of a medical emergency are.
That’s why he’s encouraging communities in Far North Queensland to sign up for LifeFlight’s free trauma training workshops, First Minutes Matter (FMM).
Survival starts on the ground and, in an FMM workshop, participants learn what to do in a medical emergency before professional help arrives.
Participants will walk away knowing how to treat burns, bleeds, snake bites, choking, how to perform CPR and more.
From snake bites to cardiac arrests, Dr Gilhotra said knowing what to do in the first minutes of a medical emergency could improve patient outcomes.
“For people that collapse or have cardiac arrests in their home or public places, the first few minutes can make a massive difference in their outcome,” he said.
“It comes down to being able to identify that an individual needs CPR and acting quickly.
“If people have undergone some form of training to be able to identify those scenarios and perform good, effective CPR and resuscitation, it can really save a life.”
Sugar cane and banana farms are common around Cairns and the Tablelands and snake bites often come with the territory.
“There are heaps of snakes here and creepy crawlies,” Dr Gilhotra said.
“People need to be able to identify a snake bite and the first aid around it, because often that is what will slow down the progression of envenomation.
“It’s important to stay as still as you can, keep calm and use a pressure immobilisation bandage to stop the spread of the venom.
“I’ve looked after patients where they’ve had effective first aid and the outcomes are often better.”
First Minutes Matter workshops will be hosted at:
July 14 – Port Douglas at the Port Douglas Community Hall (Corner of Mowbray and Munro streets)
July 15 – Mareeba at the CWA Hall (1 Wilkes St)
July 16 – Cairns at the Brinsmead Community Hall (85 Loridan Drive, Brinsmead)
To register visit
