Loading...
Cast
Rena Owen
M
Melissa Tkautz
Nicholas Eadie
Dieter Brummer
A
Andrew McKaige
Graeme Blundell
Grant Bowler
Loading...
Medivac was an Australian television drama series that ran on Network Ten from 1996 to 1998. There were 48 episodes produced. Medivac is an abbreviation of the term medical evacuation. The series was also known as Adrenaline Junkies overseas. Medivac was set in the emergency department of Brisbane's fictional Bethlehem West Hospital, where a dedicated medical team work in the demanding world of emergency medicine. The team specialises in the evacuation of disaster areas, journeying by helicopter to remote areas inaccessible by ambulance. They also work in the city streets and the suburbs involving themselves with the patients, their families and the police.
1996
Dr. Harry Edwards is forced by the hospital's board of directors to appoint new arrival Dr. Red Buchanan as his successor for the Head of Bethlehem West's emergency department—despite Harry having promised the job to his Deputy Director, Dr. Julia McAlpine. Wayne makes a failed pass at Julia, describing to her the dreams he has had about the two of them together. Wayne and Bree are sent into the Glasshouse Mountains on a medivac to rescue an injured hiker. Tensions resurface between former colleagues Arch and Red now that the two are once again working together. Offended at being passed over for the Directorship, Julia hands in her resignation.
An accident at a theme park marks Red's first day as Bethlehem West's new Director of Emergency Services. Julia's decision to remove and injured girl from an ambulance in favour of a more seriously injured person has tragic consequences when the distraught father of the injured girl attempts to drive his daughter to the hospital himself. Oopy's decision to aggressively treat a cancer-stricken ex-wrestler upsets Gosia. After arguing with Red over the diagnosis of a patient, Wayne approaches Julia to tell her that she has his support. Red talks Julie into staying on with the promise that the department will be hers once he leaves.
A 58-year-old woman acting as a surrogate mother for her daughter-in-law and deceased son is admitted to the ER with complications. After apparently recovering, she is taken home by her insistent daughter-in-law only to be brought back in the next day, at which time she dies following an otherwise successful emergency cesarean delivery. While being transported to the hospital on a medivac flight, a patient jumps from the helicopter, landing in the river, and Arch follows the man out the door. Finding a patient collapsed in the parking lot, Macy performs an emergency tracheotomy to save the man's life. Oopy objects to Macy's actions and files a grievance to cover up his own misdiagnosis of the patient. Harry smugly announces to Red and Julia that he has become the new Chief Executive Officer of Bethlehem West
A mysterious outbreak causes panic in the emergency department. Oopy's complaint against Macy results in Harry formally charging her with ""breech of official duties"" in connection with her parking lot tracheotomy. Red's famous wife, Jane ""Colonel Doom"" Buchanan, breezes through town between international relief missions. Red approaches Wayne to tell him that his personality may not be best suited to a career in emergency medicine. On a medivac with Dr. McAlpine, Marina helps an accident victim come to terms with his circumstances when it becomes clear that his leg must be amputated in order to save his life
A terminally ill cancer patient, brought in by medivac after crash landing his glider, has his controversial last request granted and is quietly euthanised by one of the nursing staff during the night. Incensed over the ""murder"" of his patient, Wayne wants to call in the police but Harry, not wanting to draw further attention to the incident, prevents the matter from going any further. Macy is found guilty of exceeding her duties and is given a two week suspension for performing the tracheotomy in the hospital's parking lot. Arch loses the lucky drumsticks that were given to him as a child by his violin teacher.
Arch tests to become a fellow of the College of Emergency Medicine but winds up running out of his evaluation with his test patient when the man arrests in the middle of the examination. Finding her grandmother collapsed on the kitchen floor, a six-year-old girl directs the staff to her grandmother's house over the telephone. When the elderly woman dies, Macy takes the young girl home until her vacationing parents can be contacted.
While Red and Julia deal with a deadly outbreak of cholera that is ravaging a small island community, Wayne is left in charge of emergency room. Wayne seizes upon the opportunity and tries to reform the department to suit his vision, and after snooping through the personnel files, Wayne reveals to the staff that Marina is a nun. To get people to stop seeing her in a different light, Marina shows her co-workers exactly who she is. Wayne completes an order for new office chairs but the new furniture proves to be a tough fit.
Julia finds herself taking a personal interest in a severely depressed patient after he talks about killing himself and his family. Julia attempts to have the man committed to protect his wife and child, but an improperly filled out form allows him to be released back to his family. Arch, Bree, and Wayne are called out to rescue an injured sky diver but discover that they must also locate the man's detached arm. A man believed to be a Jehovah's Witness dies when the doctors cannot not give him a required blood transfusion
Dr. Edwards suffers a heart attack after refusing help from Red who had become concerned when he saw the warning signs. Bree goes on her first date with Arch but must finish it with Wayne when Arch is called back to the hospital. Gosia removes the hypnotic suggestion she implanted in Oopy as payback for his complaint against Macy. Wayne and Gosia's ambulance is rerouted to a house where a shooting has occurred. Without waiting for the police to arrive, Gosia enters the home to offer assistance and comes face-to-face with the gunman
In the face of budget cutbacks and overcrowding, Red fights to keep the ER open and off of bypass. Red's decision to accept five victims of an MVA push an already busy emergency ward into overdrive. Noticing the similarity to a situation that occurred when they last worked together, Arch reminds Red of the fatal consequences that previous decision had and warns him against allowing the same thing to happen again. Bree gets Wayne to open himself up to life when he again fills in for Arch on a date.
A needle prick received while treating a patient places Julia in a difficult position when the woman, a recovering drug addict, refuses to give her consent for a blood test. Told of Julia's predicament, Wayne illegally obtains a blood sample for testing but when the results come back, Julia, feeling compelled to inform the patient that she has syphilis, makes an anonymous phone call to the woman's GP. Wayne is subsequently arrested and charged with assault when the woman goes to the police after being discharged. While returning to the hospital with a man who has attempted suicide, Arch and Macy's medivac helicopter is forced to make an emergency landing.
A misdiagnosis by Arch leads to a tuberculosis scare in the department. Gosia lies while testifying at Wayne's hearing resulting in the assault charge against him being thrown out of court. The temporarily closure of the bathrooms in the ER causes some tense moments for Marina. Oopy's practical joke leaves him with a bad taste in his mouth.
Red's wife phones from Jakarta to tell him that she is pregnant—but that he's not the father. Wayne and Julia are forced to operate in the field when an approaching cyclone grounds their helicopter on a remote island. Before leaving for Jakarta, Red goes to Harry with his desire to have Wayne and his bad bedside manner removed from the ER. With three doctors away from the department, Harry is called upon to take over a delicate procedure from Oopy when the ambitious young intern gets in over his head. Wayne seizes upon Red's absence to endear himself to Harry.
Jane Buchanan is rushed to the hospital where an emergency caesarean delivery is performed. Marina loses track of a patient with a broken neck causing some anxious moments as the staff search the hospital in an attempt to locate him. Time constraints, coupled with mounting pressure from Julia, forces Arch to quit his band. Oopy fails his intern assessment and tells Julia exactly what he thinks of her in the process. Marina passes her evaluation but is then told by Julia that her religious beliefs may make a career in emergency medicine difficult. Red and Julia retrieve a burns victim via medivac
Marina hands in her resignation after being in a car accident that kills a patient to whom she was giving a ride home. Bree abruptly ends her relationship with Arch after introducing him to her family. Red's quiet day with his wife and newborn son (Alexander) ends in tragedy when a young boy falls off a ferry. A stranded climber requires rescuing
1998
Sean's best friend is diagnosed with a progressive nerve disorder and lapses into a coma. Julia passes over Gosia for the new Nurse Manager and instead appoints the unpopular Eric Frost to the position. A professor of Jewish studies overdoses on his housekeeper's pills trying to induce vomiting after eating pork. His asthmatic housekeeper is then brought in after having run out of her medication. Evie and Sean end their relationship.
With growing opposition to Eric Frost as Nurse Manager, Julia reluctantly gives way and suggests to Gosia that the job could be hers if she could find a way to get Eric to leave on his own. Gosia springs in to action and Eric soon announces that he is quitting so that he can accept a ""better"" job at another hospital. Marina and Stella's medivac is used to smuggle drugs into the country.
Stella's brother comes into the ER suffering from a gunshot wound and, with assistance from Gosia and Arch, Stella tries to treat him covertly. When Julia discovers what is going on, she demands Stella inform the police. Stella places her career in jeopardy by refusing to turn in her brother but a good word on her behalf to Julia by Arch keeps her from losing her job. Stella and Marina disagree about the morality of putting a fourteen-year-old patient on the pill. Julia invites Tom to the track to watch her horse, Fine Young Hero, run. Evie is accepted into Pre-med
Sean brings in Ernie, a homeless man whose illness is exacerbated by his heavy drinking. A woman, brought to the hospital via medivac after her husband attacked her with a shovel, instigates a frantic search when she cuts off her finger in order to remove her wedding ring. While looking through old patient records for information on Ernie, Sean learns of Tom's illness
Ernie is readmitted to hospital with a dislocated shoulder and Sean is able to get him into a detox programme. Stella's treatment of a patient she believes to be a drug addict is questioned by Evie who asks for another doctor's opinion. A year after having left her order, Marina prepares for a visit by Monsignor Duval who is coming to determine her conviction. Julia has Arch ask Gosia to be ""nicer"" to the doctors. Arch extracts a man from a horse costume.
Tom and Arch bring in a cancer-ridden patient by medivac. Tom takes a special interest in the woman and wants her to receive whatever palliative care is available while Arch, recognising the hopelessness of her situation, tries to have her accept her imminent death so that she can help her children face what lies ahead. Tom takes out his frustration with the case on Sean who in turn lashes out at Ernie. Dave proposes to Marina, but feeling rushed and uncertain of her future, she says no. Arch stumbles upon Tom and Julia's now intimate relationship
Stella's brother is brought back to the ER with a stab wound and serious internal injuries after having been beaten. Ernie returns with a suspected broken ankle, and after he saves a patient's life using an advanced medical procedure, Julia discovers that he was once a doctor at Bethlehem West but left medicine after his wife was killed in a car accident. Sean and Evie are assigned to escort a transplant patient to the hospital but their ambulance gets into an accident in which Evie temporarily losses her sight—and Sean regains his confidence
Tom and Julia's medivac brings in a man who swallowed a fish hook on a drunken dare. Marina, Evie and Stella coax a quick recovery out of a young boy who is faking an illness so as not to have to go to church and confess his ""sins."" Tom collapses in the ER prompting the revelation of his illness to his co-workers. Sean's phobia surfaces when a young girl, along with her pet spider, is admitted. Arch is upset he was never told about Tom's condition and that Julia allowed him to continue to work in the ER.
Sean, Evie, and Gosia are called out on a medivac to treat a nine-year-old boy with a broken leg but instead find a group of homeless kids living in an underground sewer complex and a middle-aged man with an unknown illness. Returning to the hospital, Sean and Evie eventually diagnose the man as having an obscure 16th century sweating sickness and convince Arch to let them treat him with an equally obscure 16th century remedy. After their brief first encounter in a bar, Marina becomes a strange man's object of affection as he sends her flowers and begins to hang around the hospital. Tom refuses any cancer treatments that may prevent him from returning to work, but an unsympathetic Arch just wants him to be replaced.
After being called out on a medivac to an isolated farmhouse, Sean and Evie's pilot is murdered and their helicopter is stolen, leaving them to contend with the injured, and dangerous, partner of the man responsible. Marina continues to encounter her suitor, he conveniently appears to help her with a flat tire and then takes the opportunity to fix up her car. As Tom returns to work, Arch considers going to the medical board to have him placed on the impaired practitioners register.
Marina is surprised to discover that Mark Best, the strange man who's been pursuing her, has gotten a job as an orderly in the hospital. Responding to Marina's concerns about Mark's intentions, Arch steps in to confront Mark and tells him to stay away from Marina. However, to the bewilderment of Arch, when Marina hears Mark's side of the story, she begins to defend the behaviour of the man whom she once feared. When Tom collapses while working on a patient, Dr. Peter Michaels tells him that the time has come for him to leave his job. Stella informs Tom of a new experimental cancer trial that he may benefit from
When a gambling addict is brought into the ER following a failed suicide attempt, Evie encourages him to turn his life around, which he does, but only to have his hopes for the future dashed when he is diagnosed with terminal kidney failure that leaves him with less than a day to live. Marina is unsure about how to proceed with her budding relationship with Arch and resigns from her job for reasons of emotional turmoil. Julia and Tom are married.
Tom goes into cardiac arrest and is rushed to the hospital where he is revived by the staff. Dr. Michaels must quickly operate to relieve the increasing pressure the growing tumour is applying to Tom's heart. Having come through the surgery successfully, Tom begins his cancer treatments. Marina is unable to go through with her commitment to join a closed order and decides to give her relationship with Arch a second chance. Sean and Evie get back together and Evie learns she has received a scholarship that will allow her to study medicine full time
1997
An old flame from Arch's past provides Harry with legal advice regarding a doctor who knowingly exposed a patient to a fatal virus for the sake of performing a ground breaking trans-species organ transplant. Finally achieving the directorship that has eluded her, Julia asks Arch to accept the vacant position of Deputy Director—he refuses and then supports Wayne's bid for the job.
Danny Haywood, a man previously treated by Julia for severe depression (episode 8) is brought into the department under a police escort for treatment after going on a shooting rampage at a crowded public swimming pool. The grief stricken father of one of his victims accidentally shoots Peter while attempting to locate the gunman in the ER.
Gosia's abusive exhusband from Alice Springs shows up in the hospital looking for her. Repeat medivac flights to a farm lead doctors to suspect that the workers are intentionally electrocuting themselves in an attempt to cure their illnesses. Arch passes his fellowship exam and reluctantly accepts the Deputy Directorship. Wayne rebels against the practice of wearing helmets while on medivacs.
Bree and Gosia discover that Oopy is moonlighting at a private cosmetic surgery institute, Olympia's Secret, when a medivac returns with one of the institute's former patients who is now suffering from complications arising from her surgery. With the help of Peter, and his newly acquired pilot's license, Bree and Gosia take to the air to notify the institute's patients of the possible dangers associated with unnecessary cosmetic surgery. One of Arch's first official actions as the hospital's new Deputy Director results in a funding dispute between two charities
Harry is confronted by an old war buddy and his decision to tell the press about an off-duty killing they were involved in during their time in Vietnam. Instead, to clear their consciences, they personally fund the airlift of a New Guinean boy to the hospital for medical treatment. Julia and Gosia risk their lives to rescue the victim of a shark attack. Marina informs Julia about Oopy's other job.
After her rescue from the forest, a young school teacher tells of her abduction and subsequent impregnation by aliens. A skeptical Wayne believes her trauma is somehow related to her husband's recent death while Bree, unsure what to believe, just wants her to receive the help that she obviously needs. Soon after releasing the woman from hospital, Wayne and Arch are called out again to assist her after an apparent second abduction and are surprised to discover that she is no longer pregnant
Dr. Dexter Haben, still alive to the surprise of many in the department, makes an appearance to perform a life saving operation on an infant to garner some good press prior to his hearing on the trans-species organ transplant matter (episode 16). A suspected case of the equine virus threatens the life of Julia's young friend as well as those of her horses. A zoology student is brought in after having been scratched by a bat. Wayne is bitten by one of Julia's horses during a riding lesson
Harry is placed in the media spotlight following a fatal fire in a run down apartment building which he owns. Macy suffers from the ""say goodbye blues"" after treating a homeless man and getting to know his teenage daughter. Duelling celebrity impersonators are admitted to the department.
Medical practices in the ER are publicly condemned by hospital neurosurgeon Dr. David Delamere resulting in Arch being investigated on a charge of manslaughter relating to the death of one of his patients. No longer able to emotionally let go from her patients, Macy quits and takes a job in a nursing home. Monsignor Duval, a representative from the Vatican, arrives to investigate a potential miracle for which Wayne is the principle witness
The emergency department staff responds to the accident scene after a truck T-bones a bus full of blind school children. Arch's manslaughter trial begins, but he chooses to attend to the victims of the bus accident instead. Unable to stay away from the hospital after hearing about the collision on the news, Macy returns to help with the accident victims. Wayne and Gosia disagree on whether to inform the police about a young girl who was used as a drug mule. For failing to appear in court, Arch has his bail revoked and is remanded in custody
In the back of a police van en route to his trial, Arch comes to the aid of an aboriginal man who has a heart attack, the same man responsible for spearing an art dealer brought into the hospital earlier. Arch commandeers the van and redirects it to Bethlehem West making him late for his trial once again. Oopy's involvement in the mix up of two CT scans is uncovered by Bree and Gosia resulting in the charges against Arch being dropped.
After robbing Wayne's bank, a young couple are involved in a car accident in which the boy's head is pierced by a length of rebar. Emerging from surgery severly brain damaged, he is fataly shot by his girlfriend and partner-in-crime who is in turn shot and killed by Peter when she attempts to turn the gun on him and Marina. A paraplegic comes into the ER and overdoses himself into a coma, his wish is to have his organs sold to a dying billionaire to help support his family. His wish is eventually realised but Gosia sees that the payout is more appropriate for the magnitude of his sacrifice. Macy returns to her job as the emergency department's Nurse Manager. Bree fishes Harry out of the river and treats him for a jellyfish sting. Harry introduces the staff to the newest member of Bethlehem West's emergency department, Dr. Tom Shawcross
A medivac to a women's prison during a riot results in Wayne, Tom, and Macy being taken hostage by two inmates. Unable to simply fire Oopy, Julia tries to make him quit by assigning him to the supply closet. Nikki, a girl initially admitted suffering from burns to her arms, lapses into an unusual catatonic state that is broken by periodic outbursts of rage—her father believes she may be possessed. Harry tries to give Bree a gift to thank her for saving his life
The emergency department is quarantined when Nikki is believed to have a fatal rabbit virus. Dave Callen, Marina's medivac pilot, is blinded following an inflight explosion but Marina is able to successfully talk him through an emergency landing. Wayne attempts to sneak out of the hospital so that he can attend a stamp auction
The emergency department is quarantined when Nikki is believed to have a fatal rabbit virus. Dave Callen, Marina's medivac pilot, is blinded following an inflight explosion but Marina is able to successfully talk him through an emergency landing. Wayne attempts to sneak out of the hospital so that he can attend a stamp auction
Bree and Harry become intimately involved. A patient is attacked in the ER by the girlfriend of a man he killed in a car accident. After learning that he will be permanently blind in one eye, Dave tells Marina that he's in love with her. A discrepancy in the department's drug supply leads Julia to the discovery that Tom has cancer and has been taking morphine to ease the pain.
Tom forges the organ donation papers of a deceased patient whose mother is vehemently opposed to it, and then pays off the woman so that she won't sue the hospital. On a medivac to the site of a mining accident, Marina risks her life to go underground into the unstable mine in order to help a trapped man but can only watch helplessly as he dies before her. Marina allows herself to fall in love with Dave. Harry makes his relationship with Bree public
Wayne's 30th birthday lunch ends in a bout of food poisoning for the entire ER staff. The restaurant owner, a close friend of Julia's, tries to persuade her not to report the incident to the Department of Health and promises to take care of the problem herself. Madeline tells Arch she is pregnant but refuses his proposal of marriage. When a wealthy benefactor dies before signing a $330,000 check intended for a long awaited new x-ray machine, Tom forges the man's signature on the check to give him his ""bit of immortality."" Marina breaks her vow of celibacy by sleeping with Dave and then moves in with Arch when she leaves her order.
During an unusually quiet graveyard shift, Gosia personally welcomes new intern Sean Michaels to the hospital. In dramatic fashion, Oopy announces he is quitting to become a successful cosmetic surgeon in Hollywood. A light in an abandoned building across the street draws Wayne's attention, when he goes to investigate, he gets stuck in a malfunctioning elevator and then stumbles onto a computer being used in an illegal fund transfer of $80 billion from Swiss banks. Two twins treated after suffering nearly simultaneous heart attacks leave the hospital a sizable donation
Suffering from intense headaches, Arch sends Macy home to rest, but after passing out and crashing her car accident, Macy is admitted to hospital. Macy is initially believed to be okay and just in need of rest, but following a seizure it is discovered that she has a brain aneurysm. After asking Marina to give her last rights, just in case, the aneurysm bursts and despite the frantic efforts of her colleagues, Macy passes away. Bree and Harry are wed while Wayne, after a leave of absence from the ER, decides to leave emergency medicine entirely.
Streaming availability information not available
Rena Owen
Melissa Tkautz
Nicholas Eadie
Dieter Brummer
Andrew McKaige
Graeme Blundell
Grant Bowler
Simone Kessell
Stephen Lovatt