Chilean Navy helicopter flies woman to Iquique
Personnel from the Fourth Naval Zone tasked a Navy Dauphin helicopter to attend.
On 18 July, the Chilean Navy received a call to transport a woman with suspected circulation problems in Punta Cuevas, 75 km (50 miles) north of Iquique. Personnel from the Fourth Naval Zone tasked a Navy Dauphin helicopter to attend. The aircraft took off from the Naval Base heliport with medical crew members from SAMU.
After reaching the patient, the medics confirmed that she required urgent transfer to the Ernesto Torres Galdames Regional Hospital in Iquique.
At 16:20 hrs, the helicopter delivered the woman to the Naval Base heliport for onward transport by ground ambulance.
Head of SAMU Dr Marisol Noriel, who organised the mission from the hospital in Iquique, highlighted how the co-operation between the medical facility and the Chilean Navy meant the woman, who was in an isolated location in the Tarapacá Region, could receive the urgent medical care she needed: “When we receive these types of calls, we must act … quickly to effectively allocate the resources we have and arrive as soon as possible to assist those who in need.”