HMC to expand air ambulance service

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA HAMAD Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Ambulance Service recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of LifeFlight, an emergency air ambulance service which serves Doha outskirts as well as the north and south areas of the country, with a plan to expand the service to other areas.

Highlighting the achievement of the service, Chief Executive Officer of HMC’s Ambulance Service Dr Robert Owen said, “LifeFlight continues to benefit the people of Qatar by providing patients in remote and rural parts of the country access to effective care. The service has been extremely successful and continues to be a key part of our service offerings.” Speaking on how LifeFlight has developed since its inception in 2007, Dr Owen said that the service had grown from being a daylight hours (sunrise to sunset) service to an 18-hour service from October 2011, enabling the crew to respond to emergencies from 6am until midnight.

“With this extension, the crew now receives and responds to an average of 80 to 85 calls each representing about three calls a day. The vast majority of cases are trauma emergencies, road accidents and industrial accidents.

We are planning further expansion of the LifeFlight service. In 2013, we will partner with the Qatar Emiri Air Force and introduce new helicopters,” Owen said.

“A service of this nature is not possible without partners.

I would like to extend my appreciation to Gulf Helicopters and also various organisations that make helicopter operating sites available across the country,” Dr Owen added.

Besides trauma emergencies, LifeFlight also responds to cases of patients who suffer from heart attack or go unconsciousness. There has been an increased need for the service at the Sealine area during the camping season.

The decision on whether a patient needs to be transported by LifeFlight is based on various factors that include, the condition of the patient and distance to the hospital.

Wayne Thomson, who manages the Aeromedical Service, congratulated his team on completing five years of service.

“The LifeFlight service is now a vital component of the Ambulance Service. By ensuring faster access to critical emergency care, it has benefited patients who are too far away from road ambulance service with a medical emergency,” Thomson said.

The LifeFlight helicopter is fitted with advanced life support medical equipment and is in constant contact with the National Command Center. It carries three crew members – the pilot, a critical care paramedic and an ambulance paramedic, and can transport and care for one patient in a critical or serious condition.

“Once notified of a case by the National Command Center, LifeFlight is airborne within four-and-a-half minutes.

We generally fly in a straight line and flight time depends on the distance from Hamad General Hospital, which is the helicopter base,” Thomson explained.

HE added: “During the day, we can land almost anywhere provided it is safe to do so. At night, we only land at 16 designated helicopter operating sites located at strategic positions around the country. The number of sites will, however, continue to expand.” The LifeFlight crew is part of the Ambulance Service’s highly trained team of experts providing high-quality critical care services throughout Qatar using a range of specially equipped rapid response vehicles, ambulances and the aeromedical helicopter.

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