Over the past six months, аeromedical evacuation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs conducted 85 flights to save seriously ill people
Over the past six months, aviation units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, working together with ambulance crews of the Ministry of Health, flew 85 flights. The lives and health of our citizens depended on each one. Within three years it is planned to deploy such airbases in every 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 - the System of Aviation Protection and Safety. Within the framework of its development, it was planned to use both old aircrafts (airplane AN, helicopters Mi-2, Mi-8 and eurocopter EС-145) and new helicopters H-125, H-145 and H-225, purchased within the framework of the contract with Airbus Helicopters.
The corresponding 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, at the initiative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Health, the Unified Aeromedical Space was created. It provides for the implementation of aeromedical evacuation system and air transportation of anatomical materials of recipients.
On April 1, MIA aviation was put on permanent duty in the Lviv region (which includes seven areas: Lviv, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Volyn, Rivne, Ternopil and Chernivtsi). Already on May 1 the same duty was introduced in the Kyiv region (covering Kyiv, Vinnitsa, Zhitomir, Kirovograd, Poltava, Sumy and Chernigov areas and Kyiv).
In addition to flight personnel, medics are constantly on duty at the aircraft bases. Helicopters and planes of the Aviation Security System of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are led by young pilots who have received appropriate training.
Only during the first month of operation of the Unified Aeromedical Space it became possible to save 7 citizens in need of urgent medical care, as well as to deliver in time an organ for transplantation for a little boy who needed urgent surgery.
During half a year police helicopters of Kyiv region performed 35 fligfts, and in Lviv region - 38. In addition, the aircraft of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine were involved in aeromedical transportation - rescuers performed 12 flights.
"The medical rescue aviation program was introduced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs together with the Ministry of Health to help citizens in need of emergency medical care and living in remote communities that cannot be reached by car. When every minute counts, then helicopters work," said Denys Monastyrskiy.
The youngest patient transported was a three-month-old infant with a seizure disorder. Police pilots together with doctors from the Lviv Regional Center of Emergency Medical Care took the baby to the Lviv Children's Hospital. There infant was diagnosed and treated.
On October 26 the 52 year old Lviv resident and his 22 year old passenger were severely injured in a car accident on the highway "Lviv-Sambor-Uzhgorod" near the city Turka. At the scene medics diagnosed the driver with craniocerebral injury and heart rhythm disorder. The man was immediately taken by MIA helicopter to a hospital in Drogobych. After that, the helicopter returned for the second victim, a 22-year-old passenger, who was taken to the Lviv City Emergency Hospital with a craniocerebral injury and abdominal trauma. Unfortunately, such cases are far from uncommon.
Not only helicopters, but also airplanes are involved in rescuing patients. For example, on July 5, a special medical aircraft AN-26 transported a seriously ill boy from Uzhgorod to «OHMADIT» clinic in Kyiv. The boy was diagnosed with acute renal failure. First he was transported by ambulance to the regional center of Transcarpathia, and then he was airlifted to Kyiv.
Children in serious condition often have to be transported to "OHMADIT".
For example, in September, a medical team together with the NPU helicopter transported there a seven-year-old boy who suffered severe neck and head injuries. He was in the village of Kodra, 80 kilometers from the Kyiv.
"Transporting a child with a suspected spinal cord injury by ground transport in a rural area with poor roads meant creating the risk of worsening the injuries already sustained," said Serhii Chernyshuk, medical director of «OHMADIT» clinic.
Although there is less space in a helicopter than in the ambulance, evacuation by air provides the necessary conditions for transporting a patient and carrying medical equipment on board.
In March of this year, the SES helicopter also transported a patient after a transplant to the Heart Center in KYIV.. Rescue pilots landed on the helipad, which is located on the roof of the hospital. The 38-year-old man, who had undergone a heart transplant in one of the hospitals in Zaporizhzhya, was accompanied by a team of doctors from Kyiv.
"Our plans are to make such airbases in every region of Ukraine within 3 years. We solve the infrastructure issues and count on the assistance of local communities", - said the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denys Monastyrskiy.
Department of communication of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
