Airgurus' medical flight team of critical care doctor and nurses took off from the hangar in Pasay City last August 24, 2011 for a series of medical flight missions. The first mission, according to air ambulance helicopter pilot Capt. Harry Lero, was to transport a premature baby with breathing problems from Bacolod City to Manila for advanced neonatal critical care.
Airgurus is the only air ambulance company in the Philippines that has a specialized neonatal transport team to accomplish such a mission. The work would not stop there. Capt. Lero said, that after the first flight, the team flew from Manila to Boracay to transport a patient with an orthopedic injury and flew to San Vicente, Palawan transport a child with a spinal cord injury resulting from a fall.
"Our company provides air medical evacuation for ill and/or injured babies, children and adult persons throughout the Philippines" he said. The company has staffed a remarkable group of critical care doctors, nurses and medics to provide excellent patient care, bed-to-bed service and customized care to meet the needs of patients and their family members.
As the owner of the air ambulance company, Capt. Lero said he has been delighted with the response from the local communities in various regions as well as the top medical facilities in the country. The company has a home base in General Aviation Area, Manila Domestic Airport but will soon expand its business south of the Philippines in order to meet the need.
There are some clients namely doctors, hospitals, clinics, insurance companies, etc. down there with whom we have a regular, long-standing relationship. The company has transported a lot of patients including pediatric burn victims. We are repositioning our aircraft and a team so we can better service those existing customers and to offer service to other medical centers in various regions in the South.
Founded in 2006, the company currently operates a fleet of air ambulance aircraft that include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. The difference between Airgurus and most other air ambulance services is that we transport patients who are stable, but need to be taken a substantial distance for specific and special treatments. The reason these patients use the service is because they can't travel by airline and may need immediate medical assistance.
The first mission was transporting the premature baby highlights the company's specialty in neonatal care. "Very often, the need for this transportation is created by circumstances related to special needs," Capt. Lero said. "We move a lot of neonatal cases from hospitals where they were born to facilities in Manila where they can get cardiac surgery."
Capt. Lero said his company prides itself on providing the highest standards of both care and transport operations. "Quality management is a cornerstone for us. There aren't air ambulance operations that provide services like this in the country."
1st Artistic Photo courtesy of Jonel Candelaria
