AMREF’s Flying Doctor Service is the largest and best known air ambulance in Africa.
Developed in 1957 and based in Nairobi, Kenya the Flying Doctor Service provides 24 hour fully equipped evacuation health services to people across the continent.
The service also provides clinical outreach to train and strengthen the skills of health workers in rural communities. Specialists in orthopedics, urology and laboratory testing visit 110 rural communities every year to conduct 5,000 life-saving operations and treat 17,000 patients.
During a single visit the Outreach Team;
• Provides on-the-job training to doctors, clinical officers, nurses and laboratory workers
• Holds formal discussion sessions on selected medical topics
• Examines and treats sick patients
• Conducts complicated surgeries with assistance from local health workers
• Trains new surgeons in complicated surgeries
The Flying Doctor Service is also used to respond to emergencies such as disease outbreaks, major accidents, flooding or famine.
In many rural regions of Africa, infrastructure remains poor and hospitals and clinics are inaccessible. For many people living in these remote regions of eastern Africa, AMREF’s Flying Doctor Service remains more vital than ever.
AMREF SUCCESS: Flying Doctor Service Rescue Story
Saving Siamese Twins: Captain Daniel Baton and Dr. Kizito Osundwa have been part of countless emergency air evacuations, but on August 13, 2008 they led an emergency mission they will never forget.
At 3 pm the Flying Doctors control room in Nairobi received a call from the Nyahururu hospital in Central Kenya. A woman had recently given birth to Siamese twin girls. The baby girls were joined at the chest and stomach and the local hospital didn’t have the equipment to x-ray or perform the delicate surgery to separate them.
Shortly after 5:30 pm the Flying Doctors arrived at a landing pad close to the hospital. An ambulance carrying the baby girls was standing by, and the Flying Doctors were able to put them into the onboard incubator where their health would be closely monitored. The baby’s mother was also boarded onto the plane and put on a medical drip.
Within an hour the plane was back in Nairobi. An ambulance was standing by and the girls and their mother were rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital where they would receive the proper care they needed.
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