RCIPS helicopter earns its keep for preemie baby
(CNS): The police helicopter proved its worth for the second time this week when it airlifted a mother in premature labour from Cayman Brac to George Town, where she safely delivered the baby and where the early arrival was able to receive neonatal care. Police said that the RCIPS Air Operations Unit was deployed to Faith Hospital on the Brac early Thursday morning. It was unable to get to the Sister Island the night before when the woman first went into labour due to poor visibility, police said.
Doctors on the Brac knew the baby, which was preterm, would need immediate neonatal support after birth, which is only be available at the Cayman Islands Hospital. The medical team at Faith were able to keep the mother stable during the night before she was safely airlifted at 5:00am with a critical care escort aboard the chopper.
The mother arrived at Owen Roberts International Airport and was transferred to the EMT ground crew for transportation to the Cayman Islands Hospital by about 8:30am, where the baby was delivered and where, the hospital reports, they are now both doing well.
This medical rescue comes just a few days after the chopper rescued a crew member at sea from a supertanker some fifteen miles off the coast off Grand Cayman. The man had fallen and sustained leg and head injuries.
Category: Health, Medical Health
Why is there no landing pad at the new hospital?? Seems like a no-brainer to add.
Can i get a lift to work? Traffic is painful
My only question is since we have a helicopter, and it can be used for airlifting people, why don’t we have a landing pad at the hospital?
This is a fair question.
Faith Hospital has a landing pad. Impressive I’d say.
No space there for the retrofit that I can see.
Now if only there was a helipad built near the hospital for emergencies like these, it would mean faster response for medical emergencies that require the use and versatility of a Helicopter.
Parking lot hoss.
Just think a few years ago the nay sayers were blasting the purchase of this much needed piece of equipment. Every developed or undeveloped country has some sort of air wing or support to their police or armed forces. Cayman had the mosquito planes and a tour helicopter. Yes the procurement process was flawed but its here now and proving its worth everyday. We’ve lost track of the countless headlines of rescues and medical evacuations.
To the young caymanian pilot (learning to fly a helicopter is hard, much less getting commercially qualified, trust me) amongst the excellent crew, it was refreshing to see he was given an opportunity to prove himself and hopefully you can make aircraft commander in a few years!
Well done, guys.
I hope the MLAs who tried so hard to kill this project off back in 2007 are truly ashamed of themselves when they read stories like this.
Another good job by police. The helicopter has turned out to be very useful.
Only after extensive/expensive retrofits let us not forget. Call a spade a spade and maybe next time we’l have a better chance of getting the right equipment for the job.
Exactly! I move for the purchase of a Aw-139! Dart should be able to pony up for one!
It has NOT had any retrofits!!! It has had equipment enhancements to upgrade, because of the value it gives. What it does have is a team that know what they are doing, and exceptional at what they do.
i am so impressed with the RCIP these days! they saved a family member with the gelicopter in the Brac 2 yrs ago , who were having heart issues…? also impressed with crack down of speedsters and drunks! keep pressure on them speeders on Linford Pierson Highway….?
Let’s not forget the time the helo intercepted the DUI driver en route from Rum Point!