Medical Evacuation (Isolation Case) – Sierra Leone

Country/Region:

Sierra Leone, Massanga

Client:

Insurance client

Operational Requirement:

Operational planning and medical evacuation

Situation

NGS were contacted by an insurance client to assist with a case where their own network was unable to support their personnel in Sierra Leone. The patient, a young woman working for an NGO was suffering from general malaise, dehydration and severe vomiting and was suspected of having contracted Lassa Fever. While not as infectious or serious as some other haemorrhagic fevers, the Lassa Virus can be fatal in 1% of those that contract it and for those that do not get adequate treatment, complications can occur. Given the lower standard of care available in country, it was requested that the patient be flown to her home country for continued treatment.

NGS Actions 

Upon receiving the initial request, NGS immediately contacted a number of our vetted and pre-approved providers with the aim of conducting a ground transfer to Lungi for onward transfer to the patient’s country of domicile via Air Ambulance.

Shortly after the task was requested the patient’s status, confirming Lassa Fever was advised. As a result, the transfer level necessitated an increased level of protection to the medical teams facilitating the transfer. A ground transfer with full isolation capability was sourced, and an isolation facility was identified in Freetown, although this was not required given the rapid deployment of the Air Ambulance. The entire operation planning was completed and presented to the insurer within 10 hours, with the air ambulance aircraft being prepared and in position to carry out an isolation pod transfer less than 36 hours later.

Liaising with multiple agencies and countries to ensure the permits and permissions were completed in a timely fashion resulted in the patient being handed over to the destination hospital less than 60 hours after the initial request for support, this was actually faster than had been initially conveyed to the insurer.

Assets Deployed 

NGS 24/7 ops centre

NGS approved air ambulance 

NGS approved ground ambulance

NGS medical coordination team

Task Summary

Despite having the added complication of requiring an isolation capable aircraft and ground transfer element, the task was completed rapidly and with very little delay. The continuous liaison throughout the transfer ensured the entire operation ran smoothly and the patient reached the medical facility in her home nation promptly while receiving a good standard of medical care.