Over the past six months, the sanitary aviation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs carried out 85 flights to rescue the seriously ill
Over the past six months, the air units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, working together with the ambulance brigades of the Ministry of Health, made 85 sorties. The life and health of our citizens depended on everyone. Within three years it is planned to build such airbases in each region of Ukraine.
Such a phenomenon as aeromedical evacuation appeared in Ukraine three years ago, when in March 2018 the Ministry of Internal Affairs launched a new project — Aviation Protection and Security System. As part of its construction, it was planned to use both old aircraft (An aircraft and helicopters Mi-2, Mi-8, EC-145), as well as new helicopters H-125, H-145 and H-225 purchased under contract with Airbus Helicopters.
The relevant contract for the supply of French-made helicopters was signed on August 29, 2018 between the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and Airbus Helicopters.
Already in March 2021, on the initiative of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Health, the Unified Aeromedical Space was created. It provides for the introduction of an aeromedical evacuation system and the aerial transportation of the anatomical materials of the recipients.
On April 1, the aircraft of the Ministry of Internal Affairs entered on permanent duty in the Lviv region (these are 7 regions: Lviv, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Volyn, Rivne, Ternopil and Chernivtsi). Already on May 1, the same rotation was introduced in the Kiev region (covers Kiev, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv regions and the city of Kiev).
In addition to the flight staff, medics are constantly on duty at the bases of aircraft deployment. Helicopters and aircraft of the Air Safety System of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are operated by young pilots who have undergone appropriate training.
Only in the first month of operation of the Unified Aeromedical Space managed to save 7 citizens who needed urgent medical care, as well as deliver an organ for transplantation in time for a little boy who needed urgent surgery.
In half a year, police helicopters of the Kiev region made 35 sorties, and in Lviv there were 38. In addition, the aircraft of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine was involved in the aeromedical transportation — rescuers performed 12 sorties.
“The program of medical and rescue aviation was introduced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs together with the Ministry of Health to help citizens who need emergency medical care and live in remote settlements, where it is impossible to reach by car. When the countdown goes to minutes, then the helicopters work,” said Denis Monastyrsky.
The youngest patient who was transported was a three-month-old baby with convulsive syndrome. Police pilots together with doctors of Lviv Regional Emergency Medical Center delivered the child to Lviv Children's Hospital. There she was diagnosed and treated.
And on October 26, on the road “Lviv-Sambir-Uzhgorod”, near the city of Turka, a 52-year-old Lviv resident and his 22-year-old passenger were badly injured as a result of an accident. At the scene, doctors diagnosed the driver with a traumatic brain injury and heart rhythm disturbance. The man was immediately taken by a helicopter of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to one of the hospitals of the city of Drohobych. After that, the helicopter returned for the second victim, a 22-year-old passenger, who was taken to the Lviv City Emergency Medical Hospital with a traumatic brain injury and abdominal injury. Unfortunately, such cases are not isolated.
Not only helicopters, but also airplanes are involved in the rescue of patients. For example, on July 5, a special medical aircraft of the State Emergency Service An-26 transported a seriously ill boy from Uzhgorod to the capital “Okhmatdyt”. In the boy, doctors diagnosed acute renal failure. At first, he was transported by resuscitation to the regional center of Transcarpathia, and then he was transported to Kiev by the State Emergency Service plane.
Children in serious condition often have to be transported to the “Akhmadit”. For example, in September, a medical team together with an NPU helicopter transported a seven-year-old boy there, who suffered severe neck and head injuries. It was located in the village of Kodra, which is 80 kilometers from the capital.
“Transporting a child with a suspected spinal injury by ground transport in rural areas with bad roads meant to create a risk of worsening the injuries already received,” said Serhiy Chernyshuk, medical director of the Okhmatdyt NDSL.
Although there is less space in a helicopter than in an ambulance carriage, evacuation by air provides the necessary conditions for transporting the patient and transporting medical equipment on board.
In March of this year, a helicopter of the State Emergency Service also transported the patient to the Metropolitan Heart Institute after the transplant. Rescue pilots landed on a helicopter pad located on the roof of the hospital. A 38-year-old man who had a heart transplant in one of the hospitals in Zaporizhzhia was accompanied by a team of doctors from Kiev.
“We plan to build such airbases in every region of Ukraine within 3 years. We solve infrastructure issues and count on the help of local communities,” said Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denis Monastyrsky.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
