By Olasunkanmi Akoni

LAGOS State has recorded an unprecedented feat in the area of health services. With an estimated population of 23 million people, Lagos, is one of the states with high incidence of emergencies. In the past, many patients had lost their lives to late arrival at hospitals, due to recurring road traffic snarls in the state.

Determined to reduce risk and enhance chances of survival of patients, the Lagos State Government, last week conducted a test run of its newly built heliport at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, to ascertain its readiness for operation during medical emergencies in the state. A heliport is a small airport suitable only for use by helicopters.

Heliports typically contain one or more helipads and may have limited facilities such as fuel, lighting, a windsock, or even hangars that are often built on rooftops. The Chief Medical Director, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja, Dr. Wale Oke, during the test run exercise last weekend, said the state government had built a helicopter evacuation system in the hospital for effective response to medical emergencies.

According to him, the trial run of the emergency landing of the helicopter in the hospital located in the Ikeja area of the state was designed to move patients from different locations to the hospital when required. Oke added that the trial run was to identify possible challenges that could occur when landing the helicopter and how to proffer solutions.

According to him, “What we did was a trial run to see the challenges that will be faced by the pilot when he tries to land the helicopter in front of the Surgical Emergency Department. We have identified all the problems and solutions have been proffered. “The state government is using extra budgetary funds to put up a modern heliport of international standard that will cater for these needs.

“Some of the problems that have been identified can be addressed with the removal of some poles and cutting down of trees.

“Some physical structures will also have to be adjusted to meet the need so as not to cause injuries when landing.”

Oke said government had identified that it was important to further improve on the evacuation of patients to the hospital through air transportation.

He stressed that when a patient who is critically ill gets to the hospital on time, the chances of survival is higher than when the patient is brought in late.