Flying high with Med-Evac
This unique service is a first for Margate, and signals the return of private helicopter emergency medical services in KZN after the last aircraft was decommissioned in 2013.
Med-Evac private ambulance service can now reach its patients not only by sea and land, but also by air.
Med-Evac has partnered with Black Eagle Aviation, a company with a long history of providing medical evacuation services from remote sites in Africa, to launch a full intensive care unit and neonatal intensive care unit medical helicopter service in KwaZulu-Natal.
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This unique service is a first for Margate, and signals the return of private helicopter emergency medical services in KZN after the last aircraft was decommissioned in 2013.
One helicopter will be kept at Margate Airport, while the other will be stationed in Newcastle.
It’s an exciting move for Med-Evac’s owners, emergency care practitioner (ECP) Glen Preston and Doctor Derick de Beer, who launched Med-Evac in Umtentweni some 13 years ago as the only privately-owned ECP company in KZN.
“Dr de Beer and I got together to start this for the benefit of the South Coast community, and we can confidently say we are the most advanced, well-equipped and highly trained ambulance service within our operational area,’ said Mr Preston.
The company has two response vehicles, four fully equipped ambulances, a quad bike, two boats and now two fully equipped helicopters – the Airbus AS350 and the Bell Longranger.
Black Eagle Med-Evac 1 will be based in Margate to service southern KZN and the Eastern Cape, primarily from Umtata/Port St John’s northwards, and will be flown only during daylight hours.
Already three patients – from Umkomaas, Umtata and Maphumula respectively – have been transported by air using this chopper.
“The helicopter is here to supplement our existing road operations and extend the reach of our advanced medical care to a greater number of patients, especially in rural areas with poor access and limited services,” said Mr Preston.
It allows for the rapid transport of the most critical patients to the right facility, in the shortest time. With these aeromedical services, we will definitely be able to save more lives in our community.
Frans Haasbroek (41) pilots the helicopter stationed at Margate Airport. He has 21 years’ experience and 4 700 flying hours under his belt, with 10 of those years being spent with the South African Police Service’s Durban Airwing.
Mr Haasbroek has earned the reputation of being one of the best in the field. He has travelled extensively, and after leaving the police force in 2014, worked throughout Africa.
In 2004, he spent six weeks in Sri Lanka, doing post-tsunami relief work and was the pilot who rescued 13 sailors off The Phoenix, a bulk tanker which ran aground at Sheffield beach on the North Coast in 2011.
The Med-Evac team enjoys a great rapport, and intermediate life support paramedic Rudi Prinsloo and emergency care practitioner Vikki Pretorius agree that ‘Med-Evac is home’ for them.
Mr Preston pointed out they work closely with police search and rescue, the National Sea Rescue Institute and lifeguards when it comes to emergencies, and will go beyond the call of duty to save a life, even if it means abseiling down a mountain or getting into deep water to effect the rescue.
“As a team there is nothing much we can’t do – and we will rather go too far than not far enough,” he added, proudly.
“This job consists of long hours, stress and emotion. It’s a calling you have to have a passion for; this career is not for everyone,” said Mrs Pretorius.
“I love my job as it is a different experience every day. We are not just ambulance drivers, we are the lifeline for the patient,” added Mr Prinsloo.
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