Patient Transportation with Helicopters Instead of Sleds

Air ambulance services have commenced in the Eastern Anatolian Region of Turkey, where the winter conditions are really harsh and patient transportation is done only by means of sleds. A patient who had given a haemorrhagic premature birth in Erzincan State Hospital was brought to Erzurum by means of HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Services). The patient was sent to the Nene Hatun Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital with a totally equipped ambulance immediately after landing, which was ready when the helicopter was landed. The Minister of Health, Recep Akdağ, visited the patient while she was brought to the hospital and mentioned the improvements in the health area, said: “We managed to be what we are now after many years of patient transportation on sleds, animals; even walking in the harsh winter conditions”.