Sunrise Airways and HERO have carried out an exceptional medical repatriation flight on Tuesday, October 1, to transport 3 burn victims from Les Cayes to the Médecins Sans Frontières burn victims’ center in Port-au-Prince.
Following the explosion of a propane gas tank in Les Cayes on Sunday, September 29, which left nearly 30 people injured, many of them children, the health centers in the city of Les Cayes were totally helpless in the face of the severity of the injuries. Many calls for help were made to save the victims’ lives by making up for the shortage of doctors, serum, drinking water, analgesics and even fuel to run the generators in the hospital center.
HERO, an emergency management agency (a public-private partnership), which provides ambulance service and international medical evacuation coordination, asked Sunrise Airways for assistance and together they volunteered to aid in the rescue of the injured. “We looked for all possible solutions to bring back the injured, including private planes, pilots, but we were helpless at the time. Fortunately, Sunrise Airways immediately offered its humanitarian assistance”, explains a HERO representative.
On Oct. 1 a Sunrise Airways aircraft took off from Guy Malary Terminal with a HERO team of a doctor and two emergency nurses on board to repatriate three burn victims. The team also loaded 40 “burn” kits into the plane with the aim to deliver them to the hospital in Les Cayes.
Upon arrival at the Port-au-Prince airport terminal, the three most seriously injured, two children and an adult, were cared for in three ambulances provided by HERO. With the help of CAN (Centre d’Ambulance National, National Ambulance Center) and Saint Lukes Hospital, they were sent to MSF’s Burn Center in Haiti, which is the only structure specializing in severe burns in the country. Located in the Cité-Soleil district, the hospital provides comprehensive care for people with severe burns, including an emergency room, a hospitalization service, physiotherapy and psychological assistance.