Medivac To Be Bali Based

A medivac aircraft is to be based in Bali to evacuate emergency medical cases to Australia or Singapore. Previously aircraft have had to fly into Bali from Singapore or Australia, depending on the availability of aircraft. In the past it has taken up to 24 hours for aircraft to arrive in Bali for emergency evacuations and then undertake the onward flight. The new service is to be established by Air Bali will evacuate emergency medical cases to Singapore or Darwin, depending on the preference of the patient.

The service is independent of medical clinics, hospitals and insurance companies and is totally controlled by Air Bali.
Air Bali will use a king air 200 aircraft which is turbo propped and big enough to take into patients and relatives if necessary. A spokesman for the company said the aircraft has been obtained and is currently undergoing various inspections and being fitted for the task. He said that it was expected the aircraft would be operational by the third week in January. The company currently has available a Cessna Citation jet aircraft which is based in Perth and has recently been fitted for emergency evacuations.
The company currently operates two helicopters from Bali and has had considerable experience in evacuating patients from outer islands to Bali.
A company spokesman said that medical staff-a doctor and nurse – for the evacuation flight - will need to be supplied by medical clinics in Bali and discussions are currently being held with major emergency clinics. The aircraft will be flown by an Australia pilot who has already been employed by the company. The establishment of the new service will be a considerable boost to the upper end of the tourist market.
In the past insurance companies have informed some of their bigger policy holders that they could not cover them in Bali because there was not an international hospital or a Bali based medical evacuation. Efforts have been under way by some sections of the travel industry for the past eight-years to have an evacuation aircraft based in Bali.
The spokesman for Air Bali said yesterday that his company has been negotiating for the past 12 months to establish the service.
He said that it took some time to obtain a suitable aircraft. Current medical evacuation services mainly transport patients to Singapore or Jakarta. Many Australia expatriates and tourists need to fly to Australia where medical expenses are covered by that countries national health and medical scheme. Also considerable medical experience is available in Australia. While Singapore boasts top medical facilities and expertise it is very expensive and some travel insurance policies have minimal cover for hospitalization and medical care. There have been two announcements that international standard hospitals will be built in Bali.
The Udayana University rector said recently that planning was well underway for an International standard hospital to be built at the University. The second announcement which carried no detailed information was by a private company with connections in Bali. Upgraded medical facilities and staff would be a big boost to tourism, especially from America and European markets which have dropped dramatically since the Bali bombing in 2002.
(Courtesy Bali Sun)