This was the blunt message from Port Stephens paramedic and CareFlight nurse Melissa Price following her three-week sojourn to the state's far west at a time the remote community was experiencing the worst of its traumatic coronavirus outbreak.

Ms Price, a mother of three from Salamander Bay with more than two decades' experience as a nurse and paramedic, has just returned from a 21-day round trip vaccinating, treating and assessing COVID-19 patients from Broken Hill and Wilcannia.

"When I was approached by CareFlight [a charitable not-for-profit organisation] to support staff at the Far West Health district I was not sure what to expect... in fact I feared the worst," Ms Price said.

"My first few days were spent at the vaccinating clinic in Broken Hill and then I was deployed to Wilcannia to work out of the town hospital.

"My role was to visit the communities, predominantly Aboriginal, and check-on and monitor COVID-19 positive residents."

Ms Price said that while she had previously worked in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, the situation with the virus had presented some new challenges.

"There was some fear and anxiety among Aboriginal people who said they had initially felt isolated by governments, but we were met with open arms," she said.

"In some cases there were issues with over-crowdedness, with up to 15 people living in the one house, but eventually we were able to gain their trust and to reassure them by ensuring they received good care and the right information. By the end I was very sad to leave."

Ms Price said that the ages of COVID positive cases ranged from five months to 73 years.

"There were four of us working in two groups of two, visiting between 60 and 105 people a day. Fortunately most of the residents had at least one vaccination and the majority had only mild symptoms such as coughing, light headedness and sore joints."

She said that during her time in Wilcannia there had not been a single reported death due to COVID thanks to the high rate of vaccinations.

"In fact, there was concern that after three weeks some residents had become complacent because they had go through the worse of it. It was a good indicator of the effectiveness of the vaccine and the need to remain vigilant, and it's something the people of Port Stephens can take on board."

CareFlight is working closely with governments and authorities during the pandemic to ensure there is no disruption to its mission to save lives, speed recovery and serve the community.

"We want to assure people that CareFlight's aeromedical services remain fully operational and we are taking every precaution to ensure that our clinical and operational teams continue to provide the highest standard of healthcare to Australians who need us," a spokesperson said.

CareFlight has also been providing additional services to support remote communities during the COVID-19 health emergency with funding provided by the Australian government.

"Our clinical teams are taking the necessary steps to protect themselves and our patients by wearing Personal Protective Equipment for all transfers involving patients with any respiratory illness."

To help CareFlight continue its charitable work, donate by visiting careflight.org or telephoning 1800 655 876.

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