She was deployed to conflicts in East Timor and Rwanda, assisted in the aftermath of the Bali bombing and the Boxing Day tsunami in Sumatra.
In Rwanda, she was part of a team providing medical support to the United Nations after the genocide and during the Kibeho massacre.
Hardy said, despite carrying weapons, they were not allowed anywhere without two male armed escorts.
"We were there to support the UN but we ended up treating a lot of the local children.
"You had to think laterally, for example, we were equipped to deal with adults so a small suction catheter for an adult could be used as naso gastric tube for a baby."
She described the situations in East Timor, Bali and Sumatra as being equally as challenging, saying it was a sense of purpose which kept her going.
"You accept that you're not going to make a huge difference but you might make a difference to one or two lives that might not have been saved.
"That's what it's all about."
Hardy also ran the air force aeromedical training school for three years in both fixed and rotary aircraft, before joining the Royal Flying Doctors Service, based in Bundaberg, north of Brisbane.
"It was a busy little base, not dissimilar to here.
"Working as a sole operator, you're up in the air with a pilot so if anything goes wrong you've got to rely on your own skills to deal with the situation."
It is that wealth of experience that the Hawke's Bay team of about 20 flight nurses will be able to draw on.
"I know what they're experiencing and I know the idiosyncrasies of flight.
"I've had some interesting flights including watching a pilot duck under the cockpit during a bat strike on final descent."
She said it is an unpredictable job, where you have to be prepared for anything.
"It helps to be resilient and believe in Murphy's Law."
The HBDHB flight team transferred more than 1500 patients in the 12 months to September 2019, an average of 138 patients per month.
