Antara News·Indonesia·Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 11:59 AM

Govt mobilizes six ambulance helicopters for remote emergency aid

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Lintang Budiyanti Prameswari, Yashinta Difa

Jombang, E. Java (ANTARA) - The Health Ministry is preparing six helicopter air ambulances to provide rapid emergency medical evacuations for patients in frontier, outermost, and underdeveloped (3T) regions, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin announced on Thursday.

Speaking during a visit to the Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School in Jombang, East Java, Minister Budi stated that the initiative builds on recent emergency response efforts following the earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), where numerous victims suffered severe fractures requiring immediate surgical care.

To facilitate rapid transport and care, the ministry is actively coordinating with the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), the Indonesian National Police (Polri), and the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI).

"Patients must be treated quickly during transport; otherwise, severe infections and complications can develop, especially when traveling to a hospital takes five to six hours," Sadikin told reporters.

Under the operational model, helicopters transport medical personnel into isolated disaster zones and immediately evacuate critically injured patients on return flights to regional hospitals for emergency surgery.

In addition to the rotary-wing fleet, the Health Ministry is deploying two specialized mobile field hospitals to East Nusa Tenggara, equipped to perform immediate surgical procedures on-site.

Minister Budi added that while air ambulances are already operational in regions such as Papua, the system is being expanded to ensure emergency healthcare services reach remote populations located far from stationary hospital facilities.

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