Hercules comes to heart transplant rescue

[Cragrat]

Lads and lasses of the crew and techies, well done, and I believe that was the purpose of this thread originally! ExRAFAC pull your head out of your backside mate, I'm sure the crew aren't looking for any praise but credit where credit's due. I'm sure that PR wasn't at the front of everyones mind at Ascot when the task came in. There's nothing more pleasing than the sense of achievement from any successful Comp-A/Medevac when you're sat on the apron back home, yes you're right ExRAFAC, it is part of our job. On a personal note, with a member of my family having had a major transplant I'd like to think that patients/families on waiting lists around the country could rely on the lads and lasses in the mob to assist in these highly time critical taskings in the future if asked to do so. Can we please stop all the s**t stirring!
Good work guys

[DummyRun]

Stoppers,

And me you fool.....

Load Moving......

speshly splendid at the mo!!

[Samuel]

I thought the purpose of this thread was to give a well-deserved "Well Done" for a job well done? What could have been done as an alternative is totally irrelevent, because it wasn't, and who gives a fat rat's arse anyway. The RAF were asked to do it, and did it well. End of story.

Some people could start a fight in a phone-box!

[unclenelli]

Well Said

Like Samuel & Rev I. Tin have said before:
Well done to all concerned
As for those who stir la merde, F**k you
We do the donkey work and get the job done (when we can) at short notice
See previous posts about a Russian request to rescue a USSR submarine crew & a <90 minutes request to get some Harley St Docs to Paris to recover a heart (obtained EuroControl slot-exemption and re-routed aircraft, aircraft held on ground awaiting the Docs blue-light transit from London to Oxfordshire) - (Successful result in the end - well done to the medicos, all we did was provide the transport! Best of luck and condolences for the families concerned, whoever you are - we normally never find a name of the "customers" concerned)
Give us your name & address & in future we'll make sure that the stops remain in place next time - when maybe one of your rellys needs an organ yesterday!!!!!!
PS - I should know - I took the inital phonecall request to the RAF from Gt Ormonds on this one! Dr - Cpl. So Wind Your Neck In!!!
Re: using HS125 instead of C130/VC10/3*/ C17
The 2 UK HS125 RAF units, Cranwell & Northolt) do not operate 24/7 and require 14hr crew rest before a crew can be brought to readiness
Same as for all heavy jets!
3* into Paris was en-route BZN-AKT(slip), so the down-route crew were told to stay in their cypriot beds for an hour (Crew duty was not a problem in this case). As for costs, the 3* was already routing about 15miles to the west of Paris, so diverting only cost the UK tax-payer the difference in fuel price between BZN-AKT & Orly-AKT ) (ALL FIGURES APPROX) (around 15T @ 0.78/litre = £2400 - or 0.00005p for every person in the UK!!!!!!!!! (all figures rounded up!))))
WHAT PRICE WOULD YOU PUT ON THE LIFE OF YOUR FAMILY??????? (by the way 0.00005p is the equivalent of 20,000 Lottery scratchcards)

[chappie]

i'd like to add my congrats to all involved in making the process possible to help the patients and their families. why anyone has managed to say anything negative is beyond me. the fact is at the end of the day the job done and there's nowt that can change that....so do us a favour and wind your neck in.

i know from personal experience all to well how incredibly stressful the whole process can be and the fact that there was help when needed would have been a significant help to all parties involved. i work in an intensive care setting and the gift of life is not something to waste. please be aware that the patient being harvested is not a corpse yet....they will still be seen very much as a patient.i have prepped these patients to be ready for theatre and and taken care of their families who have had to make the decision i'm very mindful of the fact it is not a corpse that i am dealing with. yes they are brain dead but please show respect for them and their families. the amount of work that goes into getting the whole transplant completed is phenomonal and timings and availability of staff and resources etc can make or break someones life and the whole process can collapse. then the organs wasted and imagine having to tell the recipient that no i'm afraid we cannot continue with the surgery. imagine what that does to someone and their family.

it is not for us to wonder how the money gets spent or why it's wasted and what can be done to rectify the problem. that is the jobs for the bean counters and countless plebs that unfortunately make up our government.

good work everyone!!!

[air pig]

Hi Chappie.

I work in a Cardiac Transplant Unit, I am meerly at the receiving end. Those who deal with the recently bereaved have the hardest job far. I know because I have done it in the past.

Thanks to all in the chain, without you some people who are alive at present would be able to be here now.

[cazatou]

I remember in the late 60's being in the bar at RAF Salalah with a day off in front 0f us when, at about 2300, the SDO came in and announced that there had been a major fire on a merchant vessel where one of the 5hips Officers had received severe burns and required immediate Aeromedical evacuation to the hospital in Bahrein - which was the only hospital in the Gulf.

There was no alternative, we had to go. That, incidentally, was our decision because,at that time of night,there was no way we could get in contact with HQ Gulf to get approval.

The Patient survived; and I got to meet the only person who has won a VC & Bar and lived - but thats another story.

[Samuel]

You met Charles Upham then?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Upham

[Taildragger67]

Originally Posted by Rev I. Tin

Who gives a t*ss how much it cost, who took it or why?
Daysleeper, I am sure if you were lying in hospital waiting a new part you wouldn't complain who brought it to you!

Not long ago, two yachties in a race got into trouble two-thirds of the way down from Australia to Antarctica. The call went out and the ADF swung into action. Constant rotations of Orions (three in the air at times) to check on the victims whilst a frigate was tasked to work-up and head south.

Got both boys back safely. Then some raised questions about cost. Defence minister's quick response: this is what we do, this is what we've paid for, you couldn't ask for better inter-operability training than this - you an exercise all you like, but when it's someone's life in the balance, it tends to focus the mind.

They still talk about it as a job extremely well done. The message - get into trouble in our patch and we will try our best to get you out of it.

I also seem to recall some distant memory of a transplant organ or material being sourced in Paris, flown to LHR where a QF 744 had already been pushed back, the organ put aboard and expedited clearances given right through to Sydney.

What it does show is that the human race can work together now & then. A bit of hope.