The Department of Health in Mimaropa is temporarily suspending its air ambulance service out of Palawan, as the airplanes need preventive maintenance and scheduled check-up, Regional Director Eduardo C. Janairo said Wednesday.
The air ambulance normally averages three flights a day out of Palawan, but DOH-Mimaropa is still procuring the parts needed to repair the planes from abroad, as they are not available here in the country.
“We have not anticipated the numerous requests for passenger transport, and upon inspection of the aircrafts, it is found out that several parts need to be replaced immediately in both of the aircrafts,” said Janairo.
“The air ambulance averages two to three flights a day. This is how essential the demand for emergency patient transport is due to the isolated island barangays that make up the province of Palawan,” he added.
A total of 92 patients had been transported by the two air ambulances since the start of the partnership of DoH-Mimaropa and the Philippine Adventist Medical Aviation Services Inc. through a memorandum signed on Feb. 8, 2017.
Per DoH records, 12 trauma patients were transported in February, 35 emergency patients in March, 24 in April, and 21 last May. The patients’ ages ranged from 2 months to 70 years old.
Janairo said the medical conditions of the patients transported were hemorrhages, kidney and heart problems, trauma due to gunshot wounds, multiple stab wounds, and other emergency conditions needing a higher level of treatment and care.
Patients came from the islands of Cuyo, Magsaysay, Balabac, and the mountain areas of Brooke’s Point, Palawan, and the air ambulance even transported patients from Zamboanga and Tawi-Tawi. Several severe cases were brought to Manila for proper treatment.
“Emergency response vehicles, including aircraft ambulances, must be maintained regularly for safety and reliability during operations. While occasional mechanical failures are inevitable, much can be done to prevent them,” Janairo emphasized.
“We shall resume our regular operation once the necessary parts are replaced and the aircraft are fit to fly again,” he added.