“Everything is gone” was a sentence that was resonating through the Bahamas owing to the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian. With whole cities being ravaged, medical flights have been a necessity for the island country, that’s just a few miles off the cost of Florida. The popular tourist destination has not been left in the lurch in this tough time with the US government kick starting rescue attempts both through land and the sea. Commercially held medical flights too have been doing their bit to help the country. This help has not just come in terms of helicopters; it has been in the form of personnel and equipment supply too.
Medical Flights Necessary Where Roads are Nonexistent
The Bahamas currently are so ravaged that the roads are virtually dysfunctional in many parts of the country. Obviously, medical flights come handy in situations like these. The US government has deployed several but some Florida- based companies too are pressing their helicopters and jets into use. The call for help, it is believed, first came from Federal Emergency Management Agency. One report had revealed that there are hundreds of people waiting at the airports for evacuation in the affected city. The coast guard too had been pressed into action.
The Readiness Staged in Sarasota, Florida
Ground as well as air crew were positioned in Sarasota, Florida, and were ready for dispatch. It was also believed at the time that the hurricane may cause havoc in the coastal areas of the state. At the same time, a fleet comprising of medical flights – both jets and rotor wings – was on standby to respond to any calls for help. A central command was also established for seamless coordination. The job would have been mainly to rescue people by providing them initial treatment and reaching them to safer places.
