BEHIND THE SCENES OF A MEDEVAC

Behind the scenes of a Medevac Flight

Photo Dave Forney | Uganda

The call is received by MAF Operations staff, who determine the location, severity, and response time needed.

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The plane departs to retrieve the patient.

Photo Rembrand Rodenburg | Uganda

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Disaster strikes; a fall, accident or medical emergency, and you’re far from a city, clinic, or hospital that is properly set-up to care for the situation. But MAF is operating in the country. Here’s what happens next:

Story Chaundra Eagar

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From a remote location, an emergency call comes in - by phone, or in very remote locations, solar powered HF radio.

inea Gu P h o t o LM ic hael Wakef eld | Papua New

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Pho to Jenny Davies | South Sudan P ho to Lu Anne Cadd | Bangladesh The Operations Manager or on-call staff member calls in the Ground Team and pilot, who start to prep the plane and review the medevac procedures for the particular case. Ground Ops then preps, fuels, and if required, configures the plane to remove seats to accommodate a stretcher.

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On arrival, the pilot helps load the patient. If a stretcher and backboard are required, the pilot helps strap in the patient to keep them secure.

Depending on the severity of the case, a nurse, doctor, or caregiver may be required to travel along for patient care during flight.

Photo Mark Hewes | Timor-Leste

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Hewes | Timor-Leste Photo Mark Before take-off, the pilot assesses the case and decides what the best altitude is to fly at, considering oxygen levels or potential turbulence.

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The Operations Manager calls a local hospital to have an ambulance or transportation to meet the patient at the airfield on arrival.

Flights like these are only made possible because of friends like you. Thank you for your support.

BUILDING T WARDS

We’re preparing the KendonStrong MAF Centre for service that will outlive us.

By Mark Fox, CEO MAF NZ This is an exciting time for MAF New Zealand! For many years I prayed into the vision of a Centre at an airport. It has been so exciting to see God faithfully lead us step by step towards establishing the Kendon-Strong MAF Centre. We have come a long way—but there is still much to do!

The plans have been drawn up for the renovation, the building consent has come through and now the renovation can start! The goal is to build a facility that will allow us to work effectively well into the future.

In the years to come, many new staff will be trained, sent overseas and championed from the Centre. Finances will be raised to support MAF’s programmes around the world. More churches will partner with us in missions. Visiting individuals, groups and churches will be inspired by coming to the Centre and catching the vision of MAF.

It’s important, therefore, that we “future proof” the Kendon-Strong MAF Centre, so that as the ministry grows there is enough space for all the training and activities that will take place. To make the most effective use of available space, there will be a combination of offices, larger meeting rooms and “hot desks” where visiting engineers, pilots and others can quickly set up their laptops. I believe that the whole building should reflect who we are as MAF and capture the exciting work we do around the world. We will do this through the use of large photos, banners, maps, displays and interactive media that reflect our history and stories.

It will be important that the Centre is a warm, welcoming space in which to receive visiting MAF staff, families, trainers, missionaries on Home Assignment and people who want to find out about MAF. This is equally true for our accommodation, which will include three bedrooms so that large families can stay, even for extended times. Jane Eddy, our Recruitment Manager, with her background in interior design, has been helpful in developing this. We are keen to develop an aviation enterprise within the hangar space to help support both pilots and engineers as they train to be “mission ready” to serve overseas. We look forward to seeing all that God is going to do once all the renovations are complete!