Kagawa Doctor-Heli has high first-year demand

The air ambulance, referred to as a ‘Doctor-Heli’, had estimated that it would be dispatched around 243 times over the course of its first year – but ultimately overshot this projection by 63 missions. Over half of all missions were to the island of Shodoshima, which contributed 146 callouts.

Of these, 75 callouts were for ‘exogenous’ injuries and illnesses, such trauma and burns; 45 were for patients with cardiovascular or aortic diseases; while 35 patients were for cerebrovascular disease.

Kagawa was the last prefecture in Japan to establish a Doctor-Heli service, launching operations on 18 April 2022. Consequently, a key focus of its plans for the next year will be to establish stronger relations with air ambulances in neighboring prefectures. Principally, the service will look to establish mutual cooperation agreements with its fellow Doctor-Helis.

Kagawa signed a cooperation agreement of this type with Okayama Prefecture, which lies on the opposite shore of Japan’s Inland Sea, in March 2023. Kagawa is currently looking to establish a similar agreement with the three other prefectures that share its home island of Shikoku – Ehime, Kōchi, and Tokushima.

The Kagawa Doctor-Heli is operated on behalf of the prefectural government by the Takamatsu City-based Shikoku Airlines, using a Kawasaki BK 117C-1 helicopter. The service operates during daylight hours, serving two base hospitals – Kagawa Prefectural Central Hospital and Kagawa University Hospital.