OPENING LINES LIFEFLIGHT RECORDS INCREASE IN ANIMAL-RELATED INCIDENTS Source: www.arr.news/news, contributor, First Published Nov 20th, 2025 LifeFlight has recorded an increase in animal-related rescues with 155 people airlifted this year across the state. The figures, released on the eve of National Agriculture Day tomorrow (November 21), have more than doubled in the past two years with a 120 per cent increase from 2023. This year, animal-related missions have made up eight per cent of trauma taskings statewide. The LifeFlight Toowoomba-based aeromedical crew have airlifted the most patients this year with 28, due to the diverse agricultural landscape of the region. Bases at Roma, Brisbane and Bundaberg have also recorded strong numbers. The incidents are often related to horses and cattle, bull strikes, agricultural machinery and rodeos. Others include snakes, sharks, a dog, a dingo, a pig, a crocodile, a donkey, a kangaroo and lion. LifeFlight patient and Queensland beef cattle veterinarian Sandra Jephcott has seen firsthand the impacts of farming and remote location emergencies. Getting up close to livestock is all in a day’s work for the Warwick resident and part-time vet who has been airlifted six times. Ms Jephcott has an animal-related injury list as long as a country driveway given the often dangerous and challenging nature of her work. Cattle stations have been Ms Jephcott’s outside office for three decades. She has been trapped under and flung off horses, kicked and butted by bulls and slammed against metal fencing. Her most recent accident was two years ago, when an angry 1000kg bull trampled her foot. In June 2023 Ms Jephcott was working on a Yulabilla property in the Western Downs Region loading two bulls from a small yard into a truck for the Roma Sale when they started fighting. “They had their heads together pushing against each other and one of the bulls stepped on my right foot and he had all his weight on it,” she said. “He tried to take my foot off my leg; he screwed it down into the ground. “I’ve had so many accidents, I have a high pain threshold, but the bull had broken my fibula in two places and dislocated my ankle plus it was a compound fracture exposing the bone. I wanted to swim in pain relief. “I was incredibly relieved with how quickly LifeFlight arrived. The doctor and paramedic in the chopper were just excellent, they distracted me, and they made me as comfortable as possible.” She was worried the 15cm open wound would become infected. 7 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 07, ISSUE 11
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