Air-lift in

In a surprising turn of events, we had our first air-lift transfer INTO our ICU from another country instead of the usual air-evacuation out of the country. We were able to go by ambulance 4 hours each way up to the Lilongwe airport and back to collect the patient. The family had arranged for a portable ventilator and oxygen concentrator for the trip, hoping to eventually get him home with the equipment for use at home. The man had fallen critically ill while travelling outside of Malawi and had been taken care of in an ICU for 2 months there. The family wanted to bring him home to be near family. So, it was a new thing for us to get a patient in by plane!

We managed to get him safely into the ICU and then safely transferred home after the family hired a nurse to take care of him at home.