Guangzhou hospital receives first patient via international rescue

Updated: Dec 14, 2018 By Li Wenfang China Daily Print

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Medical workers carry the injured man from a helicopter. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A Chinese man suffering from severe burns in Indonesia was transferred to a hospital in Guangzhou by chartered plane and helicopter on Wednesday.

The man sustained the injuries when an oil barrel exploded at his place of work in Indonesia.

The move marks the first international air transfer of a patient to a hospital in Guangdong province.

Intensive care treatment was carried out in the air while the patient was in critical condition.

The man, in his 30s, was welding when an oil barrel exploded on the island of Djailolo in Indonesia on Dec 2, Guangzhou Daily reports.

About 85 percent of his body's surface was burned, the majority of the burns severe, said Li Xiaojian, director of the burn and plastic surgery department of Guangzhou Red Cross Hospital, where the man is being treated.

He was sent to a local hospital in Indonesia after the accident. After a week, the man suffered infection, choking, high fever, and respiratory failure.

The transfer was arranged by International SOS, the Guangdong branch of Kingwing General Aviation Co, and the hospitals in Indonesia and Guangzhou, with close support from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

The chartered plane departed Indonesia at 9:30 am and arrived at the airport in Guangzhou at 2:30 pm. The patient was then transferred to a helicopter, which arrived at the landing pad of Guangzhou Red Cross Hospital at 3:35 pm.

Since not every hospital has a burn center, the rescue network and transfer became crucial, Li said.

Li's hospital earlier this month became one of five hospitals in the Guangdong province designated by the National Health Commission as the first group of pilot hospitals in airborne medical rescue.