Chief Minister Oomman Chandy on Wednesday launched an air ambulance for promoting organ donation in Kerala. The memorandum of understanding for the air ambulance project was signed between the Kerala Network of Organ Sharing (KNOS) and the state-owned Rajiv Gandhi Aviation Academy.
Speaking at the function, the chief minister said the government would take all steps to bring in the latest facilities in health care to the state. The air ambulance project will, however, kick off only after the director general of civil for aviation gives the nod for operating two aircraft of the aviation academy for commercial purposes. These aircrafts are now being used for training purposes.
Minister K Babu, who also attended the function, said the government would speed up the steps to get these approvals from the Union civil aviation ministry as soon as possible. The government can also utilize the service of the air ambulance to shift critically-ill patients from one place to another for specialized treatment.
The flights will be operating under Mritasanjeevani, the state government project for promoting organ donation. The idea of launching an air ambulance project came up when a private hospital in Kochi utilized the service of a navy aircraft to transfer a heart from a brain-dead patient at Sree Chitra Triunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology in Thiruvanthapuram.
