Rice Company, Trukai Industries, has entered into a partnership with a Lae based helicopter company to provide medivacs for patients in the rural areas of Morobe.
The community service is called the TruCare program, and makes Trukai the first corporate organisation to make such an arrangement in Morobe.
Since its inception in 2009 Manalos Aviation has been providing Medivac services through a joint program with the Morobe Provincial Government.
The program aims to evacuate women in need of urgent medical attention due to pregnancy complications.
This year’s record from January to June shows a 95 per cent success rate. The other 5 per cent were hindered due to weather or not being able to locate patients during a fly over.
“But as far as pregnancy complications are concerned, most of them are in areas where the health services in the districts is not well established as yet,” said Manalos Aviation CEO, Jurgen Ruh.
Through the TruCare program, Trukai Industries aims to maintain its support in ensuring proper health care reaches the people in the rural areas.
The K65,000 given annually will go towards improving the medical equipment Manalos has.
“We are looking at basic medical equipment as to help with the medical evacuation,” says Trukai Industries Rice Agriculture Manager, Jarrod Pirie.
Manolos Aviation CEO, Jurgen Ruh, said prior to employing a flying nurse an average of two lives were lost yearly.
Ruh said the K65,000 they are getting from Trukai per year is to improve the equipment they have, which starts from patient comfort to any other specialised items.
Since 2013 the medivac program has lost only one life out of the 140 flights Manolos Aviation performs every year.
One third of the mothers would have died if they have not been brought into Angau Hospital for immediate treatment.
