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International SOS conducts first direct China-Taiwan Mass Medical Repatriation19 September 2006Singapore
Fourteen Taiwanese tourists injured in a bus crash in Northeast China flew directly home today on the first ever direct mass chartered flight organised by International SOS.
They arrived in Taipei’s Taoyuan Airport at approximately 1300 hours local time on a medicalised Airbus 320, converted to accommodate stretchers and medical equipment and escorted by six doctors, eight nurses and two operations specialists from International SOS Beijing, Hong Kong and Taipei alarm centres. This landmark case marks the second direct air charter across the Taiwan Straits since the signing of an agreement in June 14, 2006 between Taiwan and China, allowing direct air access by chartered flights for emergency medical rescue. Dr Charles Van Reenen, Medical Director, North Asia Region, International SOS said: “This is the first time we are flying a mass casualty charter directly from China to Taiwan without a stopover, which saves us about two hours in transit time. A similar mass casualty flight in the past will require us to mobilize two large air craft – one from China and one from Taiwan, with a transit stop in Hong Kong or Macau where we need to transfer patients into another aircraft, go through immigration clearance, and make other logistics preparations.” The 14 patients were part of a tour group of 20 Taiwanese nationals involved in a bus crash on September 11, when their tour bus overturned and plunged into a river en route from Heilongjiang Province to Jilin. Upon notification of the accident, International SOS immediately dispatched a doctor and operations specialist to Yanji, Northeastern Jilin Province, where the victims were admitted into local hospitals. Working with the local treating doctors, International SOS subsequently evacuated three seriously injured patients on air ambulances to Beijing for further treatment, escorted by International SOS medical staff on September 13, 14 and 16. Four days earlier, International SOS has also carried out the first direct cross-Straits medical evacuation of a 71-year-old Taiwanese man from Dongguan. That was the first time since 1949 that any flight of this nature has been possible. International SOS launched its Cross-Straits Emergency Medical Rescue Service on June 28. John Williams, Managing Director of International SOS in China, said: “We have been actively lobbying authorities for 18 months on both sides of the straits before we were able to set up this service. We are very proud to be part of this cross-Straits initiative. The successful completion of these two direct medical flights bears testament to the capability and experience of International SOS in China and Taiwan, not only in managing individual cases but also mass casualty situations.” About International SOS International SOS has global operations in over 65 countries, spanning five continents. The company provides clients with a comprehensive portfolio of medical and security services to ensure that people travelling and working internationally have access to immediate help. International SOS' services range from 24-hour medical advice, referrals to qualified doctors and hospitals as well as provision of emergency medical and security evacuations when there is a critical illness, accident or civil unrest. Last year, the company handled over 780,000 assistance cases, including more than 14,000 medical evacuations. From July 2005 to June 2006, International SOS evacuated 638 patients from China to Taiwan via Shenzhen, Macau and Hong Kong.
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