Antlvenoms and helicopter rescue services

[Extract] To the Editor: We congratulate Nocera and colleagues on their article, which aptly demonstrates the logistical problems asso­ ciated with aeromedical rescue. In Cairns, Cairmed (the aeromedical retrieval service located at Cairns Base Hos­pital) performs around 260 missions yearly to rural and remote areas of far north Queensland. Successful retrieval work depends on forward planning, and to that end a supply of various antivenoms is kept in the hospital emergency department and is readily available to the deployed Cairmed team. In all retrievals of patients with animal stings or bites for which an antivenom is available, either polyvalent antivenom or the appropriate monovalent antivenom is carried.