Shanghai Pudong airport participates in organ relay to save lives

Shanghai on Monday carried out a plane-and-helicopter relay to transport lifesaving human organs to a local hospital, Chinanews.com reported.

At 3:22 pm on Feb 20, AW109, a rescue helicopter, landed at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, taxied to its designated parking spot, and waited for a civilian flight from Yulin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, to Shanghai to take over the transfer of donated organs and medical personnel, Chinanews.com reported.

At 3:35 pm, the helicopter took off from the airport, and arrived at Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital in just 11 minutes.

Compared to ground transportation, which usually takes about one hour and 30 minutes, the plane-and-helicopter relay is more efficient, with the delivery time reduced by up to 75 minutes, buying more time to save lives.

According to the report, Shanghai XinKong Helicopter Co Ltd, a helicopter company for civilian use, carried out the transport in an orderly manner.

Sun Baoqun, a coordinator of organ procurement organizations at Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, has participated in almost every lung transplant transfer. He said this organ donation was based on the standard operation of organ allocation and the organs were transported by plane-and-helicopter due to the pressing time.

Apart from the medical institutions, other relevant departments and organizations also gave a green light on the transportation.

"Because of the busy transportation at large airports, it is difficult for helicopters to land and take off. The relay transportation at Shanghai Pudong International Airport is a significant breakthrough in the construction of the general aviation emergency rescue system," said Wang Taojiang, director of the general aviation department of the Civil Aviation Administration of East China.