[YouTube]
Up to 45 patients have been transported to hospitals and clinics by the new airborne transportation service since its launch in January, a Ministry of Health official said on Sunday.
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The ministry has prepared specially equipped helicopters to transport patients or people hurt in accidents from the scenes to hospitals or health centers, thus shortening time needed the transfer time needed and evading road traffic. [Source]
The local air ambulance initiative was established by former servicemen, security veterans, and firefighters and went into service early this year. I spotted the air ambulance a couple of days ago flying over Kuwait City probably heading to the Amiri Hospital. Kuwait already had one of the best ambulance services in the region and having the chopper now as part of its arsenal is obviously beneficial to everyone. I’m not sure what kind of situation merits the use of the air ambulance so if anyone has details on that please leave it in the comments.
[YouTube]
There are a couple of videos on YouTube of the helicopter, I’ve shared two with this post.
15 replies on “Kuwait’s Air Ambulance Service”
Yay. Lets party like its the 90’s.
GREAT , but isn’t supposed to be a number to call them in emergency
no, you dont call the chopper, you called the EMS and they’ll decide if you need a chopper
Kuwait does not have the best emergency services in the region.
There are police/ambulance/fire trucks roaming in residential areas looking for the address of victims for over 15 minutes sometimes. Its pathetic.
Also, no right of way to emergency vehicles. People do not pull over on the side of the road.
No proper house/building/street numbering system here. How does one expect to find an address in this country.
Just because Kuwait’s infrastructure is not great doesn’t mean our EMS isn’t. Check out my previous post on our EMS for why they’re one of the best.
EMS in Kuwait is pretty amazing! Their biggest problem now is traffic. The police on the other hand are beyond lousy. Response time can be in the hours. Truly truly pathetic. Never had to deal with fire department thankfully, but I haven’t heard many people complaining about them.
And yes there is a proper number system, but only ambulances use it. When you call EMS they ask you to read out your electronic address number off your civil id. Everything is electronic, beamed directly to the ambulance.
Dealt with fire department (not for a fire, they come for other things as well) and they were extremely prompt, professional, and helpful. They complained about the police lol
the EMS service is just too good,
i had to call on one occasion and they were there in around 10 mins , the lift for my building was not working and that guys lifted the wheelchair for the full 5 floors and rushed to the hospital,
also used the fire once and they reached within 7 mins
I also had need to call an ambulance – the response time (to a new build area) was exceptional! Less than 15 minutes. The professionalism of the Ambulance Crew was excellent. I am from the UK; I am sad to say that the service in the UK is no way on par with the Ambulance Service here in Kuwait.
the service is ok, not as said (excellent)
talking for professional point of view, the response time is good, but the quality is not
i am not saying the ppl EMS personal are not qualified or not good at all, but in other places a doctor should be with the team, however, no doctor is with them, if u need urgent intubation, urgent intervention… thats in ur dream, the delay in management is VITAL ISSUE.
traffic is against us, no arrangement between police and ambulance in rush hour, no emergency lane in many streets,….
im sorry but if it is one of ur family members… they might die on spot!!!
what is the point of reaching there in 10 min, and cant do anything except delivering the patient (who might reach as dead body!!)
brain injury (stroke – or other things) u have a 3 min window to start management in sometimes, a 30 min to reach hospital is bullshit!
i am in medical specialty in which we cover ALL kuwait, all hospitals in kuwait, all gov & private hospitals & military
trust me i know what im talking about!
I guess you do know what you are talking about. I too know what I am talking about; from my personal experience. My comments still stand as being valid.
Where have you been that Ambulance crews have doctors on staff? I’ve never heard of that, it’s widely known that EMTs are not doctors. In the US they were frequently people applying to med school who wanted the experience and it was their first job even.
The Kuwait Air Ambulance Program was brought into service to foster and enhance the Emergency Medical Services in Kuwait. The program was made possible with the collaboration of hardworking Men from various departments whose vision is to bring prompt care to the sick and injured in all corners of Kuwait and adjacent Gulf Countries who seeks medical assistance regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, religion and nationality. Some of the program missions is to respond to trauma and medical emergencies, provide quality and efficient medical management and provide medical evacuation to the appropriate receiving medical facility in the shortest possible time. It caters patients who require basic life support to advanced and critical care support. The Air Ambulance capability is almost tantamount to bringing the Emergency department to the scene. It is equipped with state of the art resuscitation paraphernalia which includes portable mechanical ventilator, portable cardiac monitor with AED mechanism and other life saving apparatus. The air ambulance is manned by well trained medical healthcare providers with advanced medical trainings and critical care backgrounds which includes a flight doctor, flight nurses and flight EMTs’. The operation also includes the highly trained Pilots and Co-pilots with sufficient years of flying experiences, the Aviation Engineers and Mechanics, and the Lifeflight dispatch who receives and relays data from EMS dispatch for launch missions. The air ambulance works in coordination with the ground ambulance during launch missions, they are dispatched from all four directions of Kuwait to include the islands (Failaka Island, Kubbar Island) where ground transport is not possible. With due respect for these gallant Men who risk themselves to uphold the banner of saving others’ life. All my Salute to them.
I am working as a flight dispatch in kuwait air ambulance at the moment and have lot of RTA and drowing cases to hospitals 🚁🖒