The Hospital Mandritsara is one of the best contact points for medical emergencies in the north of the country. It is run and supported by British churches. We regularly fly missions with them to remote villages.
For the first time, I was able to fly along on one of these missions together with our chief pilot, Nick. We flew five teams, each of which visited two villages and did vaccination campaigns.
On the second day, we were contacted by a team because they had a medical emergency. A young 19-year-old woman had lost a baby several months ago. She now had life-threatening internal infections. After a brief assessment, we decided to fly this Medevac the same day, so we immediately set off. After landing in the village, I stayed seated in the helicopter while Nick helped the patient into the helicopter with the engine still running. Then we flew off to Mandritsara. After 15 minutes we landed in front of the hospital and handed over the patient. The voyage on foot and with different means of transport would have taken at least two days, which she certainly would not have survived. The woman underwent emergency surgery the same day. Later we learned that her name is Josephine and that she had recovered well from the operation.
The hospital is called Hospital Vaovao Mahafaly (HVM), which means “Good News Hospital”. The positive feedback regarding Josephine shows that the hospital really lives up to its name. Thanks to all donors who make such valuable missions possible!
Jan
Josephine is carried to the helicopter Patient in the helicopter Arrival at the hospital in Mandritsara
