Rescue helicopter lands on highway in Wuxi

Paramedics strap an injured man into an air ambulance on a highway in Wuxi, Jiangsu province on Sept 13. [Photo/wxrb.com]

Salvation came from above for a morning commuter injured in a car crash on the Huning Expressway in Wuxi, Jiangsu province on Sept 13.

A helicopter dropped from the skies and landed in the middle of the busy highway, before whisking the man off for treatment at the 101 Hospital.

This movie-like scene was the first time an air ambulance had been used to rescue a patient on a highway in Jiangsu province.

Deploying helicopters can make a huge difference to patients in need of emergency treatment.

The air ambulance got the injured man to 101 Hospital in less than 30 minutes, many times faster than a conventional ambulance would have been able to achieve.

This is particularly true when an accident happens on Wuxi's traffic-clogged highways, according to local traffic police.

"The accident on April 2 last year was a warning that our current highway rescue procedures were still too simple," a local traffic policeman commented.