Helicpoters were deployed for emergency rescues in two separate cases in Shenzhen during the May Day holiday.
On Thursday, a 44-year-old woman was seriously injured, exhibiting dizziness, headache and vomiting after a three-car pile-up on the Shenzhen section of Shenhai Expressway. As the expressway was seriously congested with vehicles, Shenzhen police immediately contacted King Wing Aviation, a helicopter service company headquartered in Shanghai, which dispatched a helicopter to pick up the woman. The woman arrived at Southern Medical University Shenzhen Hospital in Bao’an District in 14 minutes. She suffered a cerebral concussion and organ damages.
If the woman had been transported by road, it would have taken at least 90 minutes, the police said.
In cooperation with general aviation companies in Shenzhen, the Shenzhen traffic police initiated the helicopter rescue service this March. The service is deployed when fatalities or injuries are reported in accidents where ground rescue can’t reach in a timely manner.
For the May Day holiday, Shenzhen traffic police, People’s Insurance Company of China and King Wing Aviation provided helicopters to patrol along expressways to ensure smooth holiday traffic and offer emergency rescue.
In another accident Friday, another woman surnamed Zhao experienced heart discomfort on the congested Shenshan Expressway. Zhao lost consciousness and police immediately contacted the aerial rescue team for emergency rescue. The helicopter hoisted the woman into the cabin with ropes after she was secured on the ground in one minute and brought her to a hospital in 15 minutes.
“Zhao is in stable condition following treatment, and the air rescue service’s quick response has greatly increased the survival rate of patients in need of immediate treatment,” Li Xiaolei, a doctor with Southern Medical University Shenzhen Hospital, said in an interview with Shenzhen Radio.
It is estimated that the survival rate of a person seriously injured in a traffic accident is as high as 80 percent if they receive medical treatment within 30 minutes. The rate drops to below 10 percent if they do not receive treatment within 90 minutes.
The Shanghai-based King Wing, which established a Shenzhen branch company in 2016, set up helicopter pads in cooperation with No. 7 Affiliated Hospital to Sun Yat-sen University and Southern Medical University Shenzhen Hospital. Two helicopters and well-trained paramedics can be deployed for the service, which covers the whole city. Shenzhen is one of the demonstration zones for China’s general aviation industry.
Regarding ground service, the motorbike squad of the city’s traffic police bureau brought 11 people to hospitals for treatments, and helped find four people who were reported missing during the holiday. The team offered help for more than 100 types of inquires, handled 2,201 traffic accidents and caught 7,815 traffic violations.