First Timorese evacuated for life-saving medical treatment

By CPL Damian Shovell

* Five AME personnel based at Dili airport have helped evacuate a seriously ill East Timorese woman to Melbourne for emergency treatment.

FLTLT Matt Valentine attends to East Timorese patient Maria.

AN EAST Timorese woman suffering a heart complication has become the first Timorese national to be evacuated from Dili to Melbourne with the help of the ADF’s AME team.

Flight Lieutenant Adam Hughes said the team of five AME personnel based at Dili airport helped on March 4 to organise the transfer of the 22-year-old woman, suffering a heart complication caused by chronic tuberculosis, from a local clinic where she had received basic treatment.

Flight Lieutenant Matthew Valentine prepared the woman for her flight.

FLTLT Hughes said the UN and the Rotary organisation paid for the live-saving flight to Darwin and on to Melbourne, where the woman, who also suffered anaemia and malnutrition, spent several days building up her strength before being treated.

FLTLT Hughes said the AME team has evacuated many civilian and military personnel to Darwin during their tour, but this was the first Timorese national.

The AME team’s primary role in Dili is to provide emergency air evacuation for UN military and civilian staff from outlying areas to Dili’s UN hospital, but it also undertakes humanitarian missions for local populations when possible.

The team uses Bangladeshi Bell 212, Russian MI8 and contracted Bell 212 helicopters charted by Australian company CHC Helicopters, which FLTLT Hughes said the AME used to deploy to areas usually inaccessible by road.

“We fly out and treat patients and bring them back to the UN hospital in Dili,” he said.

FLTLT Hughes said his experience gained on recent deployments to the Solomon Islands and Iraq prepared him well for his three-month East Timor deployment, but said treating patients in helicopters and the communication difficulties with the many other nations provided many new challenges.

However, he said the deployment to East Timor provided a rare experience, as the team interacted closely with other UN staff and medical personnel including Pakistanis, Brazilians and Fijians.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to work with other nations, and a rare treat to operate in with such a variety of different airframes.”

He said East Timor’s environment provided a change from his Iraq deployment and he was enjoying the ability to interact more closely with the local community.

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