The Balearic government has asked the Spanish government for a medical aircraft from the Spanish Air Force to urgently transfer a 13-month-old baby girl admitted to intensive care at Son Espases Hospital to the Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona.
This is what the Regional Minister of Health, Manuela García, told the Ministry of Defence and the government delegate in the Balearics, Alfonso Rodríguez, on Tuesday in order to speed up the transfer, while at the same time trying to contact the Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, although “without success”.
In a statement, the ministry explained that the baby is currently being cared for by a multidisciplinary team of professionals from the paediatric ICU at Son Espases, the Hospital Vall d’Hebron, the hospital to which she will be transferred, and SAMU 061.
On Monday, a team of five paediatric professionals from Vall d’Hebron Hospital went to Son Espases with an ECMO machine to stabilise the girl. At the same time, a formal request was made to the Ministry for air transport, as has been done on other occasions.
The patient suffered cardiorespiratory failure caused by an infectious process, which necessitated her treatment with ECMO and transfer to a national reference centre. The ECMO device replaces the functions of the heart and lungs while she stabilises and receives treatment for her illness.
At the same time, the Health Service has contacted different companies in the aviation sector to explore the possibility of carrying out the transfer, which is not possible, given that the aircraft must have certain characteristics that only airforce aircraft have.