By Maldives reaches a pivotal milestone with the official launching of air ambulance services in the country from 1st March 2024 onwards. In the press conference held on 29th February 2024, the Minister of Health Dr. Abdulla Khaleel confirmed that these services will be made available within Maldives with two aircrafts from Island Aviation. The current fleet providing these services includes a dash 8 domestic plane and a sea plane which were converted to air ambulances.
The domestic plane is set up to accommodate two emergency patients while the sea plane can only carry one patient. However, the Health Minister asserted that there is room for more stretchers in the domestic aircraft if a high demand for these services is observed. The air ambulances are fitted with the necessary equipment for emergency medical treatment. The 2 planes are staffed by 15 trained medical professionals, which include 5 doctors and 5 nurses. In the press conference held on 29th February 2024, the Health Minister noted that the number of medical professionals involved in the air ambulance operations will be increasing in the near future which may indicate the possibility of developing the fleet of air ambulances further to accommodate for higher demand.
Plans are underway to charter Maldivian air ambulance flights to other countries to establish a wider reach for medical treatment. The government of Maldives has engaged in discussions with the Sri-Lankan government to facilitate faster approvals to fly critical patients to Sri-Lanka. These discussions resulted in arrangements that provides Maldivian sea ambulances the required approval to bring in patients to Sri-Lanka within 2 hours which is a huge improvement to the previous 6 – 24 hour waiting period.
Since the India is a neighboring country with close relations with Maldives, it is highly likely that air ambulance flights will be chartered to India in the foreseeable future after the necessary engagements between the two countries. According to the Health Minister, Maldives is also exploring options to fly patients to countries in further locations which will expand the range of medical treatment available within the span of a few hours.
The launch of air ambulance services brings you a new layer of safety and convenience. Emergencies in remote locations in Maldives which necessitate medical treatment can now be quickly dealt with. The service is available 24/7, which provides reassurance in circumstances where the patients are in critical condition and must be transported immediately.
All established resorts in Maldives have full time doctors or nurses and a medical clinic equipped to conduct the basic and immediate procedures to stabilize the patient in the case of a sudden medical emergency. Although some resorts do offer a higher level of medical care, advanced medical treatment is usually left to the respective regional hospitals due to the ease of transport. The exciting possibility of a larger fleet of air ambulances and further development of such services in Maldives will provide resorts with a wider range of realistic options to consider in medical emergencies for guests coming to visit Maldives in the future. Although such events are rare, it is truly comforting to know that air ambulances are always readily available during your stay in the Maldives.