Buitenzorg: I'm going to go out on a limb and presume you are not from the Antilles. What choice do you propose the people of Saba (or other small island nations) really have in living there? The ONLY reason I am not living there is because I received an Antillean government scholarship for university as some of my class mates did. Not everyone qualifies for them and so not everyone has a "choice" or opportunity. Do you think my parents had the money to pay for university, cost of living, and plane tickets to get me there??? As a side bar, I applied for a scholarship to acquire to go to flight school, but was told there were too many Antillean pilots. Funny.
People of my parents generation had no scholarships available and the only eduction available was that taught by the nuns in the Catholic (not Dutch state funded) school. So again I'll ask what choice do you think people have? Sabans have done a good job of doing what they could with the island, it's only in times of emergencies like this that you realize you are in the 'developing world'.
Of course he called the helicopter because it was FASTER. The boat is two hours. I'm sure if the physician understood the risks involved with the helicopter he wouldn't have called on the pilot. I cannot imagine how he feels now about this and has to live with it the rest of his life. It was a decision made without enough information and the pilot didn't tell him any different.