Medivacs and Missionaries
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| What a busy week this last week has been! Steven flew every day, and even into some nights. Some flights were to move cargo, and others missionaries. The plane didn't go anywhere empty. |
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Left: The director of Familia Feliz, Miguel Tello, being transported to Rurrenebaque
Right: A volunteer family at Familia Feliz going to Santa Cruz to do visa paperwork |
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| Food Cargo going up to the high school at Guayaramerin. |
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The flight schedule was already pretty full for the week. There was a lineup of missionaries and cargo waiting to fly. Then a call came in, 'Can you fly make a medivac flight? A premature baby needs to go from Guayaramerin to Santa Cruz for better care." So the airplane was fueled up, filled with cargo going that way, and an engineer and his wife jumped in as well. The engineer was taking a TV transmitter to Guayaramerin to get Red ADvenir back on the air in the town.
The plane arrived in Guayara and the ambulance was notified. The engineer quickly went into town to set up the new tv transmitter while the ambulance came and the passengers were loaded. He found that the new transmitter didn't work either! He opened both the new and old transmitters and was able to use parts off of both to make one that worked, and now ADvenir is once again on air in Guayara. All in the time it took the ambulance and passengers to get to the airport and be loaded! God is good! |
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Left: The ambulance meeting the plane at Guayaramerin airport
Right: The baby and its Mom in the ambulance waiting to go in the plane |
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| The patient was a premature baby born at only 7 months gestation and was on oxygen because its lungs were underdeveloped. They said it could only live an hour without oxygen. It needed better care than what could be given at the hospital in Guayara, so was needing to be transported on oxygen to a specialized hospital in Santa Cruz. |
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The flight started well. Good weather, plenty of time before sundown, and a cruising altitude of 9,500 ft. Then the parents of the baby realized that the oxygen had run out! There was still one and a half hours of flying time until Santa Cruz. If the baby could only live one hour on the ground without oxygen, how long would it have at 9,500 ft? Steven quickly called the nearest airport,Trinidad, and began to descend explaining the emergency. It just so happened that it was one of the bigger airports and it had a doctor on staff, and oxygen available. Eleven minutes later the plane landed and the doctor was waiting on the ramp with oxygen, and the baby was fine! If the oxygen would have run out anywhere else, it is unlikely they would have been able to get to anywhere that had oxygen in time for the baby to survive. Our God is merciful!
From the airport, the baby's father went by taxi and was able to refill the oxygen bottle in the town and they continued the flight uneventfully to Santa Cruz where an ambulance was waiting with an incubator. It is winter here in Santa Cruz and much colder here than at Guayaramerin! |
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Left: The doctor with the oxygen at the plane at the ramp in Trinidad
Right: The ambulance with the incubator ready to receive the baby |
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The delay in the flight meant a night landing at Viru Viru, the international airport in Santa Cruz because it has landing lights. That means a two hour trip home on public transport, and then two hours again in the morning to go back to the airport. Because Viru Viru is an international airport, it is busy and it takes a fair bit of time to get through security, fill out the paperwork and then find a drug police to stamp the flight plan. The drug police are often busy with the airliner flights and it can take an hour waiting for an officer to be available to put his stamp on the flight plan. Then you have to get to the airplane, which is parked on a different platform, a fair distance from the terminal. Next, the airplane needs to be inspected by the drug police, before permission to fly is granted. It can take another hour or more waiting for a drug police to be free to do the inspection of the plane. If nothing else, Bolivia can be a place to develop patience!
The next day was going to be a free day from flying, since we had an appointment to apply for James's US passport. We were not available until noon. But soon a call came. Can you make an emergency medivac today? A little boy was in an accident and needs to go to Santa Cruz!
Right after our appointment Steven was again flying. this time it was a three year old boy from Guayaramerin who had somehow been run over by a vehicle. His jaw was broken in several places and his ear was mostly torn off. He needed reconstructive surgery and to be in care that could treat infections effectively. |
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| Once again the flight continued after dark, and so it ended at Viru Viru, the international airport, where an ambulance was waiting. |
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Left: Sunset over the rivers of the jungle
Right: Turning on the instrument lights |
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And so ended that flight with the little boy getting to the care he needed.
The next morning another flight was scheduled, so it was a very short night for Steven since he needed to be gone by 5 am to move the airplane from Viru Viru (remember it is a many hour ordeal) in order have enough daylight lime to transport the missionaries who were waiting.
And so ended the week, with a very tired pilot, a bunch of people and cargo moved, and a blessed Sabbath rest to enjoy. |
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Thank you all for your prayers and financial support which has made all of this possible. God Bless you until next time...
The Wilson Family |
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