Three young girls, all suffering suspected irukandji stings, have been airlifted to hospital by the Bundaberg RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter crew, in back-to-back missions today.
The chopper crew flew two young siblings to hospital, after they both suffered marine stings at K’gari (Fraser Island) this afternoon (Tues, December 27).
It is believed the sisters, aged five and nine, had been playing in the water at a well-known creek on the western side of the island, when they both suffered stings to the upper body.
Local Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) paramedics treated them at the scene, before transporting them to a helipad at Orchid Beach, where they were met by the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter and crew.
The children were airlifted to Hervey Bay Hospital in a stable condition, with their mother as an escort on the flight.
The double airlift came just over an hour after the same aeromedical crew had returned to base from flying another primary school-aged girl to hospital from the island.
She is also believed to have been stung on the upper chest by an Irukandji jellyfish while swimming at the same creek location.
The chopper was tasked on the first mission at around 11am.
The pilot landed the aircraft on a sandbar close to where the child had been stung while swimming near a popular campsite.
The girl was in a stable condition when she was flown to Hervey Bay Hospital, under the care of the QAS Flight Paramedic.
Her father accompanied her in the helicopter.
