Unitrade flight operator carries out health mission in Papua’s central highlands

Timika, Papua (Indonesia Window) – A local flight operator, the Unitrade Persada Nusantara (UPN), and the Mimika District Health Office will run a program called air mobile health center in the area of Papua’s central highlands, which is geographically difficult to reach by land.

The cooperation document between the Mimika Health Office and the Unitrade Unitrade Persada Nusantara was signed by Head of the Health Office Reynold Ubra and the Unitrade’s President Director Satya Graha Utama in Timika city, Papua province on Saturday (March 19).

The health service mission is scheduled to make its maiden flight on March 28 2022, according to a written statement received here on Monday.

According to Reynold, the air mobile health center would serve five health centers in the central highlands of Papua including distribution of medicines and logistics for health workers who are on duty in mountainous areas.

The idea of ​​the Mimika Health Office to provide health services for people in Papua’s remote areas is in line with the Unitrade Persada Nusantara’s mission in providing air ambulance and medical evacuation services.

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The mission of providing health services to people living in the central highlands came into mind in 2019 when the UPN carried out operations in Yahukimo district (about 250 kilometers southwest of Papua’s capital city of Jayapura) to distribute materials for the construction of community health centers in Saminage and Langda sub districts.

On his way back from Saminage sub district to Yahukimo district’s capital of Dekay, the helicopter pilot received a radio emergency call, asking for help for a mother who was bleeding earlier when she was about to give birth.

However, the pilot had to drop the call because the fuel was very limited, making it impossible to make the flight out of the earlier plan.

In order to anticipate such emergency calls, in the next operation the flight operator increased the amount of fuel as a reserve.

On the next flight over Langda sub district, the helicopter pilot again received an emergency call via SSB (single side band) radio communications, asking for help for a man whose leg was injured by an ax while he was cutting a tree for gardening.

When he was evacuated by the helicopter crew members from Langda to Dekay, the man had suffered gangrene on his leg because it had not been treated for three days as neither party answered calls from local residents.

With a helicopter filled with enough fuel, the UPN crew members were able to help people get medical assistances in the midst of its mission to distribute logistics to support developments in the hinterland of Papua.

These two events became a humanitarian call for the Unitrade Persada Nusantara whose entire foundation and operations were built and run by Papuan human resources, to carry out optimal health service mission for people living in the central highlands and those who have not been reached by adequate services.

Reporting by Indonesia Window