In the season three premiere of ‘Royal Flying Doctor Service’, a bus crash wreaks havoc for the RFDS team, as Pete finds himself thrown back into the team’s orbit.
A year has passed since the events of the season two finale, which saw nurse Pete (Stephen Peacocke) suspended for six months, pilot Mira (Ash Ricardo) give birth to her and doctor Wayne’s (Rob Collins) daughter and base manager Leonie (Justine Clarke) embark on a secret relationship with senior pilot Graham (Rodney Afif).
Ian Routledge
Now, in the nail-biting season return, Pete is forced to confront his former colleagues, and it might only be just the beginning…
Pete’s return ends in tragedy
Having spent the last six months in Adelaide retraining, Pete has moved on with his life, but as the hour kicks off, he’s forced to embark on a bus journey across the outback.
At a pit stop, Pete receives a raunchy text from a female that sees him more excited about his trip that he first was. However, when on the bus, he begins to tend to Poppy Galanis (Luca Sardelis), a young woman who is suffering from severe motion sickness.
Her brother Joe (Luke Furlan) pleads with the bus driver Owen (Brendan Rock) to pull over to let the symptoms subside, but his wish falls on deaf ears. As the tensions between the pair escalate, Pete tries to break up the argument, which sees Owen take his eyes off the road.
In a split second, the bus slips off the road. Owen jerks the wheel in an attempt to correct himself, but it’s too late, as the bus topples onto its side.
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Although injured, Pete jumps straight into medical mode, checking up on the passengers, each with varying degrees of injury.
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When it becomes obvious that the scene is far more dire than it first seemed, Pete gives Joe his phone and orders him to head back to the service station where he had signal and call for help, including Eliza (Emma Hamilton) and Wayne.
Eliza and Ryan’s love fest is interrupted
Having said goodbye to Pete a year ago, senior medical officer Eliza has moved on with life, taking up with newcomer Ryan Jarvis (Rick Davies), who works closely with the RFDS team in his capacity as a Fire and Rescue Officer.
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As the pair spend their day together, Eliza is surprised to find a phone call from Pete on her personal phone. She silences the call before heading for a steamy shower with Ryan, but they are interrupted again, this time by the work phone, and learn of the bus crash.
Elsewhere, Wayne is surprised to receive a phone call from his best mate Pete, but when he answers the phone and it’s not him talking, Wayne is thrown a curveball and knows that something is wrong…
The accident scene
Jumping into action, Eliza heads to the RFDS base, ready for what will befall her at the scene. With few units of blood available and only one plane in operation, Eliza knows all too well that this could be a disastrous rescue.
Wanting to help, Taylor (Sofia Nolan) offers herself to Eliza, who is reluctant, but eventually capitulates.
Graham pilots Emma, Wayne, Matty (Jack Scott), Chaya (Emma Harvie) and Taylor (Sofia Nolan) out to the accident site. With Eliza offering words of wisdom to the team, they prepare for their descent.
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When they disembark, they meet police officer Caleb (Mark Fantastia) and are taken aback by the catastrophe of what has befallen them.
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Although Eliza’s steely resolve isn’t shaken by the scene, when she lays eyes on Pete for the first time in twelve months, she’s rattled. However, Wayne and Matty do find some small comfort in seeing their friend after such a long time.
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As Wayne and Matty are briefed on the condition of Owen, who is suffering from a collapsed lung, as well as various other conditions, it soon becomes apparent that his condition is dire.
Eliza works to triage all the victims of the bus crash, including tagging some as deceased at the scene.
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Her focus is soon pulled by screams from Poppy, whom she and Pete find inside the bus, with her leg trapped.
Eliza and Chaya quickly get to work, but in conversation, Poppy reveals a chilling medical reality: her mother Anna (Elen Carapetis) and brother Joe both have a blood deficiency.
Upon learning this, Eliza quickly changes tact, knowing that the regular course of treatment may prove fatal.
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Ryan works with his team to find a way to lift the bus, but his attempts prove futile. As night falls, all the signs are pointing to Poppy also having the familial blood deficiency, Eliza is forced to make a decision: does she give her patient a clotting agent that could kill her, or will she proceed with amputation?
Meanwhile, Poppy’s mother Anna arrives on the scene and learns that her son isn’t at the accident site.
As Pete realises something could be wrong with Joe, who has stopped answering phone calls, he, Wayne and Taylor set out to rescue him. However, when they find him, things are far worse than they could have imagined.
Eliza’s decision
As the gravity of the situation grows, Eliza asks Graham to seek clearance to take three critical patients back in the plane, rather than the two that are normally allowed. When he comes back and says Ops have sent their approval, it’s a race against time to get Joe back to the accident site.
With Joe on a stretcher, the RFDS team head back to the site of the crash, but in the process, Taylor trips, landing hard.
Although she wagers through, she is forced to reveal her pregnancy to the team, taking her uncle Pete by surprise.
Ian Routledge
Unfortunately, Taylor’s condition also worsens and with one of their own now with their life in the balance, Eliza takes a step back to assess the calamity. The lives of Joe, Owen, Poppy and Taylor are all on the line and the clock is ticking.
