High flying and high pressured 'Sky Doctors', new lifesavers of the North

[Lite Beer]

High flying and high pressured 'Sky Doctors', new lifesavers of the North
Naridsa Phachart
Special to The Sunday Nation

CHIANG MAI: With less than perfect working conditions and no insurance in case of the unexpected, "sky doctors" and nurses and four related agencies are trying to provide aircraft to transport critical patients from the mountainous border province of Mae Hong Son to better equipped hospitals in Chiang Mai.

Travelling from Mae Hong Son, through rugged mountains and notorious winding roads, can take hours to reach Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital (Suan Dok) or Nakhon Phing Hospital in Chiang Mai.

In the past, many patients succumbed on the way, Suan Dok deputy director Dr Narain Chotirosniramit said.

After the National Institute for Emergency Medicine (NIEM) was established, Narain, in his capacity as a NIEM committee member, stepped in to take care of the referral system in the North.

When NIEM signed a memorandum of understanding for air-transport for patients with the Royal Air Force, the Royal Thai Army, the Royal Thai Police, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and Chiang Mai operator Kan Air, the "Northern Sky Doctor" was set up.

Narain explained that in an emergency, NIEM is called to find an agency for a flight to transport a patient in need of urgent referral to a better-equipped hospital. NIEM would cover the transport expenses.

So far 20 doctors, nurses and medical personnel in both Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son have been trained for the specialised and difficult patient care on aircraft.

"Mostly it would be a helicopter - we have a limited space and air pressure, engine noise can affect the patient. The smell of engine oil can also make any of us feel dizzy," he said, adding that the medical team must learn to perform under such limited conditions.

Moreover, military aircraft do not provide life insurance for civilian passengers. If anything untoward happened, they would not get any cover - unless the medical staff were from a private facility with life insurance coverage.

"But we still go on board the aircraft to pick up patients, especially those suffering from heart disease, those critically injured from accidents, or new-borns," Narain said.

The doctor said Mae Hong Son has no brain or heart specialists, so patients often need to be transported to Chiang Mai urgently.

"Delay can mean the loss of a patient's life," he said, adding that each such trip requires one doctor and two nurses.

"What most pressures us isn't the lack of insurance but the fact that we have to compete with time. Sometimes we just cannot save the patient's life - as in the recent case of a newborn with serious complications; no agency could provide a flight so the infant died. My team and I still feel sorry about that. Such limitations pressure us the most," he said.

Narain said he hoped Thailand would in future have "sky doctor" teams with their own helicopters also equipped with ambulance-like medical equipment. Such a helicopter would cost about Bt450 million. Currently only one such medical helicopter is in use and it belongs to a private hospital in Bangkok.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/High-flying-and-high-pressured-Sky-Doctors-new-lif-30247327.html

-- The Nation 2014-11-09

[chooka]

A great idea and will be beneficial to those living in remote mountainous areas and the critically injured and ill. With traffic not giving way to ambulances and the poor state of some roads this could actually save lives.

Australia has had this service for 85+ years, Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). They now operate a fleet of aircraft, planes and copters for people living up to a 1000k from assistance. Every state and territory operate air ambulances with doctors assigned to each air craft along with critical care paramedics.

Good move Thailand.

[The stuttering parrot]

Now that's dedication.

Great to see it's not all about the money but the saving of human life .

Reminds me of doctors without borders.

Agree chooka great move Thailand and a pleasant change to have a positive story out of the kingdom instead of all the doom and gloom day after day.

[chainarong]

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A great idea and will be beneficial to those living in remote mountainous areas and the critically injured and ill. With traffic not giving way to ambulances and the poor state of some roads this could actually save lives.

Australia has had this service for 85+ years, Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). They now operate a fleet of aircraft, planes and copters for people living up to a 1000k from assistance. Every state and territory operate air ambulances with doctors assigned to each air craft along with critical care paramedics.

Good move Thailand.

This not only applies to this area it can be applied anywhere and yes chooka , I see the flying doctor flying over my Kalgoorlie residence when I am in OZ, quite often, I am near the airport.

[anon467848]

It doesn't say how long the flight takes from Mae Hong Son to muang Chiang Mai by helicopter, any aviators hazard a guess?

[Artisi]

A great idea and will be beneficial to those living in remote mountainous areas and the critically injured and ill. With traffic not giving way to ambulances and the poor state of some roads this could actually save lives.

Australia has had this service for 85+ years, Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). They now operate a fleet of aircraft, planes and copters for people living up to a 1000k from assistance. Every state and territory operate air ambulances with doctors assigned to each air craft along with critical care paramedics.

Yes great move and an added plus to medical care in Thailand, let's hope they call on the Aussies for some guidance and not assume as usual they how it all from day 1. A niece of mine was a critical care nurse for awhile flying out of Sydney and had some good experiences to pass on about her experiences.

Good move Thailand.

[JOC]

Yes indeed well done Thailand!!

And kudos to the pilots, doctors and nurses for working in so difficult circumstances!!

And the usual Thaibashers please save your posts for another thread!!

[rakman]

And one dangerous job. The life expectancy of an air ambulance crew is limited, unfortunately. With fog and low clouds, the mountains are hard to miss.

[FangFerang]

I was happy to read some good news today. I hope that funding will become available for a small fleet of choppers.

Now THAT would be something the junta could do that NO ONE would complain about, and they could do it.

The nkey question, as always, is.....will they?

[bra]

It doesn't say how long the flight takes from Mae Hong Son to muang Chiang Mai by helicopter, any aviators hazard a guess?

The distances and speeds use here are in Nautical Miles (nm) and Nautical Miles per hour (Knots) which is the standard for aviation. The time is the same if you use km and km/h.

The distance from Mae Hong Son to Chiang Mai city is 65 nm. A twin engined helicopter normally used for medical flights cruises at about 100 knots, resulting in a time interval of 39 minutes. Add up to 10 minutes more for manoeuvring, such as making an instrument approach to Chiang Mai Airport then to fly visually to a city hospital if en route conditions do not permit visual flight. There is terrain up to about 1600 m en route.

[atyclb]

been on airlift helicopters and never smelled oil

[sgtsabai]

America has long had "Life Flight" available. Not free mind you, better have good insurance. When I lived and worked in the mountains of New Mexico we often joked (job brought out that "gallows" sense of humor) that if shot etc. on the job, just throw me in the back and drive like hell until meet up with life flight, the state covered our job injuries. Good local emergency medical help but a long, long time to respond, not their fault, and nearest hospital was 2 hours away from the nearest clinic. Kudos to the group trying to put this together, life flight is a true life saver. Just a note, helicopters are loud but if you smell oil, fuel etc. there is a problem. I've spent a few hours on them.

[Benmart]

America has long had "Life Flight" available. Not free mind you, better have good insurance. When I lived and worked in the mountains of New Mexico we often joked (job brought out that "gallows" sense of humor) that if shot etc. on the job, just throw me in the back and drive like hell until meet up with life flight, the state covered our job injuries. Good local emergency medical help but a long, long time to respond, not their fault, and nearest hospital was 2 hours away from the nearest clinic. Kudos to the group trying to put this together, life flight is a true life saver. Just a note, helicopters are loud but if you smell oil, fuel etc. there is a problem. I've spent a few hours on them.

Good post. Military aircraft, including helicopters, are used extensively in the USA on humanitarian missions when civilian resources are not available.

I'm glad to see Thailand moving in the direction of helping those that need it most.

[BSJ]

The RFDS planes are so busy in the air they don't like being on the ground when parked!