In the medical term “Golden Hour” is a crucial time as it decides the life of any critical patient. To ensure timely transfer of any such patient the state nodal agency for aviation’ GUJSAIL’ started medical Emergency Services through its air ambulance in Gujarat in March 2022 which has proved to be life savior for many citizens at a very affordable cost.

The Government of Gujarat has always been a beacon in leading the way for path breaking concepts in India and showing the way for others to follow. Such leadership also comes with a strong sense of responsibility, ownership and accountability. The state operated air ambulance is the first and only one of its kind in India in service as of today. Under the leadership of the 17th Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat Shri Bhupendra Bhai Patel, this project was inaugurated in March 2022 as a service to the residents of Gujarat as a subsidised service to save lives and bring state of the art medical services to those who otherwise could not have afforded such treatment. The advancement of medical care and technology, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has now brought high-technology driven medical care in centers of excellence and super specialty which are largely in metros, which meant that patients in smaller towns and cities had to either endure long and uncomfortable journeys to such specialised care centers which also included the danger of interim medical care during transportation.

The Civil Aviation Department, Government of Gujarat launched services of Air Ambulance for the residents of Gujarat, in March 2022, by using the state owned Beechcraft Super King Air B200 aircraft for patients who would need expedited transfer across the state for medical care. This was based on the ‘Golden Hour’ philosophy that if treatment can be provided in the first 24 hours after a traumatic incident or injury the chances of survival for a patient increase significantly. This involved retro-fitting the 23 year old aircraft with full ICU capabilities on-board in addition to bringing an ICU/ER experienced Medical Services Team to mobilise patients with severe distress to be moved.

The Civil Aviation Department launched services when the first patient was shifted from Rajkot to Chennai, with Paraquat poisoning. Unfortunately, the patient had mistakenly consumed the pesticide for which there is no known antidote and had to be moved to MGM Hospital in Chennai for higher-care and course of treatment. Similarly since then the air ambulance has provided relief and succor, on several occasions, to those who need it. One such incident was on the day of Diwali where a patient had to be moved urgently to Chennai, keeping aside personal priorities, the pilots and the medical crews were immediately deployed and the flight was operated to save a life. Such dedication and answer to the call of duty to go above and beyond from both the pilots and the medical crew demonstrated the seriousness and high professional standards that are in place for such critical requirements.

Another critical role the air ambulance plays today is in the area of organ transplant. Organs such as heart and lung are time bound and have to be transferred within a defined time in order for the sacrifice made by the donor to be successful. One such example was when the team operated for a patient who was admitted for a heart transplant at CIMS Hospital in Ahmedabad and the donor was in Surat and retrieved the organ and transferred to the destination and the transplant was completed in less than 3 hours from the retrieval well within the limit for such an operation. In the past 9-months, the Civil Aviation Department operated Air Ambulance has done over 6 organ transplants providing critical transfers in a time bound manner. As per information available to us, this is possibly the highest number of organ transfers in the country done by an Air Ambulance again showcasing the excellence and high standards of professionalism in the Department.

About GUJSAIL
Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Company Limited (GUJSAIL) is the nodal agency for development of aviation and related infrastructure in the state of Gujarat. GUJSAIL is a public sector company set up by the Government of Gujarat (GoG) with a view to building infrastructure and providing trained human resources for the fast growing civil aviation sector in Gujarat. The Director-Civil Aviation & Accountable Manager of GUJSAIL is Sqn. Ldr. (Capt.) Ajay Chauhan (ADC), a decorated helicopter pilot who has served in the Indian Air Force flying highly technical and complex missions of national importance.