Longest EMCO-assisted medical flight completed
A patient evacuation from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to Brussels, Belgium, has become the longest air ambulance flight featuring extra corporal membrane oxygenation.
A patient evacuation from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to Brussels, Belgium, has become the longest air ambulance flight featuring extra corporal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), according to the company in charge of the operation, Medic’Air International.
The company said the patient, who was suffering from a heart failure with septic shock, was evacuated after a local physician requested the patient receive specialised treatment. The flight featured a team of four medical attendants including a cardiovascular surgeon and intensive care team.
During the 18-hour flight, the patient benefitted for EMCO as well as French lyophilised plasma, onboard ultrasound and blood analyser, inotropic support and mechanical ventilation. Medic’Air said that the operation was co-ordinated from its ops desks in Shanghai, China, and Paris, France. It also said the mission was ‘complex’ but went smoothly.