It would take six hours to deliver a heart for a transplant surgery by land. That's too long as once the surgeons remove the organ, they have only four hours to implant it into a patient. Thanks to a splendid cooperation between police and military pilots, a 36-year-old woman got her new heart delivered right on time.
On the night between June 23-24, police pilots received a request to help to deliver a heart for a 36-year-old patient. The organ was in a medical facility in Podlasie (northeastern Poland), and the woman was at the University Clinical Hospital in Wrocław (southwestern Poland). It would take even as long as 6 hours to cover that distance by land. In order to deliver the heart on time, police and military pilots had to engage in an airborne relay race against the clock.
"Each minute is of the essence"
The first turn of the race against time belonged to police pilots. After receiving necessary clearance, a designated team got on board of a Black Hawk helicopter, which had been stationed for a few days close to the Polish-Belarussian border.
"Our helicopter with the heart on board took off around 6 p.m. from the Białystok-Krywlany airport. The muscular organ was under the care of a team composed of a heart surgeon and two operating room nurses. Forty minutes later in Modlin (near Warsaw), and thanks to cooperation with airport service and Border Guard, the heart was swiftly and safely handed over to the crew of an army CASA aircraft. Meanwhile, the police pilots could return to Białystok and carry out an already scheduled night flight over the border area," Polish Police Air Service chief Robert Sitek informed.
Thanks to the joint efforts, the airborne relay race ended in full success. The precious cargo was picked up by an ambulance at the Wrocław-Strachowice airport and took it to the hospital in less than 20 minutes. The awaited organ was safely delivered to the surgery room.
Sitek added that success of such missions always depended on time and engagement of all state services. This is especially important when it comes to heart delivery. "Surgeons have only four hours between the heart's removal and insertion. In such cases, transport of the heart can take a maximum of two and a half hours. Each minute of the essence," said heart transplant coordinator from University Clinical Hospital in Wrocław Mateusz Rakowski.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, tvnwarszawa.pl
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: policja.pl