RFDS This Week (Episode 4) – Matty finds himself in the firing line

On this week’s RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor Service, Wayne and Pete attend every parent’s worst nightmare, as Matty finds himself in the firing line.

Pete and Wayne attempt to save an infant’s life

Since having baby Kalthi (Layla Bartlett & Amaela Rigney), new mum Mira (Ash Ricardo) has found the return to work quite difficult.

From having to talk Pete (Stephen Peacocke) through landing a plane to killing the engine of the RFDS aircraft this week, she’s been faced with many a challenge.

However, nothing prepares her for next week when she, Pete and Wayne (Rob Collins) are called to tend to an unwell infant.

At the start of the day, Wayne receives a phone call from local farmer Julie Dubois (Ayala Beaufils), who explains that her four-month-old son Aiden is struggling to breathe and isn’t feeding.

Wanting to shield Mira from the reality of the situation, he avoids telling her the truth, keeping only Pete in the loop.

However, when they arrive in the area and Mira decides the runway isn’t the best, Wayne is forced to reveal all – including the fact that he thinks baby Aiden might have sepsis.

Mira thinks on her feet to get the infant medical help as soon as possible.

When the medicos arrive, they find Aiden in a bad way. With a temperature of 34.9 and rapid breathing, Wayne and Pete realise they have to work fast to save the baby.

As they work to give the child fluids, it becomes apparent that he has begun to shut down when they can’t find a vein. Wayne is forced to take extreme measures – drilling into the child’s bone – in order to cannulate him.

With Julie distraught watching on, Mira suggests she pack bags for her two other children, and the impact of the situation on new parents Mira and Wayne becomes obvious – especially when Wayne refers to Aiden as “her”.

Wayne and Pete finally stabilise Aiden and rush to get him to hospital, stopping only briefly to let Julie give her son a kiss and let her know that she will have to meet them at the hospital, as they can’t take the two boys with them.

However, things take a dangerous turn when Wayne and Pete find a rash on Aiden and realise he’s suffering from meningococcal, a life-threatening bacterial infection.

As the situation worsens, Wayne makes a call: they need to take the infant to Adelaide. But it’s in that moment that Aiden goes into cardiac arrest and the two men must fight to save his life.

Eliza confronts the truth

Meanwhile, Eliza (Emma Hamilton) is faced with an odd proposition from Ryan (Rick Davies).

Ryan suggests that they should begin tracking each other on their phones, so that he knows when it’s time to begin cooking dinner, especially after the hours that she has been putting in… not to mention that Anna Galanis (Elena Carapetis) is still on the warpath about her decision.

Eliza’s taken aback by the question, but it drops down her priority list as she and Matty (Jack Scott) are called to the house of a terminally ill lady, Yvette Tidwell (Sarah Brokensha).

Without a suitable transportation method, Eliza wrangles police sergeant Caleb (Mark Fantasia) to give them a lift, which ruffles Matty’s feathers as the pair disagree when Eliza poses the question of whether it’s weird that Ryan wants to track her.

When they arrive at Yvette’s house, it becomes clear she has been suffering the effects of her cancer metastasising. With the injuries sustained quite severe, Yvette raises the question of whether they would help her in a bid for voluntary assisted dying.

Eliza’s aware of the situation and states it must be Yvette’s choice. She doubles down, knowing she meets all the criteria: she’s over 18, she is of sound mind and she has less than twelve months to live. In fact, she’s raised it before, but her husband – who she can’t stand – doesn’t believe it should even be an option.

The discussion is cut short when Yvette’s husband arrives. Eliza’s shocked to learn Yvette is married to Owen (Brendan Rock), the driver of the bus that crashed, who has been charged with driving under the influence of amphetamines.

With the weight of the upcoming court case upon him, as well as his wife dying, Owen begins to struggle to breathe and Eliza is forced to tend to him once again.

As Yvette is taken to hospital, the pair discuss Yvette’s illness and Owen relays his true feelings about the situation. However, during the chat, Owen makes a statement that forces Eliza to question everything she thought she knew about the crash…

Matty and Caleb bond

Meanwhile, after Owen and Yvette are transported to hospital, Eliza and Matty join Caleb on a trip to a paddock where an overdose has been called in.

Caleb explains that while fentanyl is the current drug doing the rounds, a new synthetic opioid called ‘iso’ has hit the streets and the effects have been harrowing.

With only a small window to act, Eliza decides to use Narcan in an attempt to reverse the effects of the drugs on Raff (Nick Launchbury).

Although it works, Raff is immediately aggressive and as a scuffle breaks out, Caleb pulls out his pepper spray in an attempt to dissuade the victim.

Unfortunately, Matty’s in the firing line and cops a face full of mace, leaving him in agony.

Later in the day, as Matty writes his incident report, and Caleb nurses a split eyebrow, the pair find common ground…

Chaya accompanies Anna to Adelaide

With Poppy Galanis (Luca Sardelis) in hospital in the city, Chaya (Emma Harvie) offers to give grieving mother Anna a lift to see her daughter.

Along the way, a radio report about Owen’s drugs charges fuels a rage in Anna.

Chaya attempts to calm her down, asking how she’s feeling, but Anna cannot express her feelings to someone without children.

Feeling the world close in, Anna orders Chaya to pull over and she explodes, letting out a blood-curdling scream, anguished by the grief over the loss of her son Joe (Luke Furlan).

Taylor reveals all

Now that both Wayne and Mira are back at work, Taylor (Sofia Nolan) offers to look after Kalthi.

With her own pregnancy moving along well, she is reminded by Eliza that the deadline to make a decision regarding the pregnancy is nigh.

After a day of bonding with Kalthi, Taylor makes a bold decision and tells Pete who the father of her baby is…

Episode 4 of RFDS airs Wednesday 22nd October at 7:30pm on 7 and 7Plus.