Medical Evacuation

The trend of watersport activity in Thailand, especially diving, has been on the rise for the past couple of years as well as the amount of divers both amateur and professional. Diving, while considered to be one of the most exciting water activities, also poses great danger to many unfortunate divers.

DCS (decompression sickness) is the medical condition caused by dissolved gasses emerging as bubbles inside the body tissue or even brain during decompression (when a diver is ascending to the surface too quick). A diver who has DCS needs to be transported to the hospital that has a recompression chamber for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. If treated early, the chance of successful recovery will be significantly higher.

The problem comes when a group of divers is on a diving trip, if one of them is suspected to have DCS, the trip will have to end. The trip boat needs to transport the sick diver back to shore for hospitalization. Due to the slow speed of the boat, it could take more than an hour or two before the sick diver could reach the hospital, assuming that a sufficiently high-quality hospital is available near the shore. This is when a seaplane could save the day.

Seaplanes offer an incomparable advantage in both speed and comfort. It can reach speeds of up to 300 km/h, which would take less than 30 to 45 minutes to comfortably retrieve the sick diver and deliver them to the hospital. While many might point out that a helicopter is also capable of such operation, the helicopter cannot land on the water and the sick diver needs to be reeled up to the helicopter, which is difficult and also dangerous.

With this in mind, Siam Seaplane is glad to become a part of what makes all the difference when someone’s life is on the line.

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