Tuesday, June 21, 2011

MEDEVAC VIA SKYAID: WHY WE FILIPINOS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT

Most Filipinos do not have an inkling as to what Medevac really is. For the past 7 months, I have been working for an aircraft company called Airgurus... the only  provider of professional Medevac / Air Ambulance services. I have been actively sharing other people's experiences in the internet as I have witnessed the unfolding dramas of medical evacuations as I am, myself, part of the Medevac team.  However, it was only till yesterday that I got a full grip of why we Filipinos really need it the most. 




Being a single parent of a 7 years old kid, I was considering of having my son undergo medical evacuation although it wasn't how I perceived my son would have for his first heli or private plane experience. We were so fortunate though, that we didn't have to go through it as treatment was given first hand and is on his way to recovery. 


Medical evacuation is the process of retrieving an ailing person and transport him to facilities where proper medical care is available whether it be land-based or airborne. Airborne medical evacuations occur many times each day, all over the world. We call it "medevac" for short and someday, you just might need it too.






The medevac experts say that the odds are one only in 10,000 that you will become sick or injured and that you will need special transportation towards home or at least to a modern fully equipped hospital. When it happens though, the financial burden can be as catastrophic as the health crisis that precipitated it especially that us Filipinos, do not have medevac coverage in our life and health insurance in the country.


It is sad. When you get sick in the provinces and be needing a medevac to a hospital in Manila, expect that you would be spending at about US$10,000. The price gets higher as the location goes further away from Manila. If medical specialists or exotic equipment (say a neonatal team or a balloon pump for cardiac patients) are required, the price even goes higher.






In our country, medevac operations use dedicated private aircraft (fixed wings or a helicopter) as commercial flights do not allow this. In extreme conditions, helicopter or specially arranged flights may be required and the cost of this transport can be really devastating.  Reasonable examples include ocean rescue, mountain rescue and remote rescue. We can't prevent illness but if something happens to us, we have the solution in the Philippines... Airgurus' SkyAid.  






SkyAid is not an insurance plan. It's a membership plan of Airgurus Ltd. Co. that provides Medical Evacuation (Medevac) when your medical condition requires immediate transportation from the place where you are injured or sick to the nearest hospital where you can receive the medical treatment you need.  Capt. Harry Lero of Airgurus thought about this, knowing the dilemma of each Filipino in the country when it comes to medevac... as it is very expensive indeed. 


I am telling you, my dear readers... based on my own experience, that it wise for us to enroll ourselves and our loved ones on SkyAid. Obtaining medical treatment and hospital care alone can be already expensive and medical evacuations can be as catastrophic as the health crisis before it. 


Please read more details on SkyAid at the Airgurus website www.airgurus.ph


SkyAid can save your life... or life's savings.  


God bless us all in the Philippines and God bless SkyAid!