A Mission of Mercy

The SA Red Cross Air Mercy Service (AMS) is nonprofit organization with bases in the Western Cape, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State. For more than 43 years AMS has been providing air ambulance services to various communities, with a special focus on rural areas.

During this time the AMS flying doctor service has been transporting medical specialists to remote areas of KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape. The AMS works closely with the provincial departments of health.

Every day the nine-seat Pilatus PC-12 fixed-wing aircraft sets off at 7am and flies to KZN's outlying areas. Pilot Mark Hansen has the responsibility of getting the doctors safely to their destination. He has been flying them since last year. "It's amazing to know that you are flying people who offer scarce and much needed services to some of the poorest communities," he says. AMS volunteer flying doctors service coordinator Ronel Badenhorst is responsible for the smooth running of the program.

"I make all the necessary arrangements for every trip so that the doctors and pilot can focus on the work they are supposed to do," she says. Scarce medical care offered by the program include optometry, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopedics, ophthalmology and psychology. The specialists carry out routine visits to hospitals in Pongola, Kokstad, Matatiele, Nongoma and Hlabisa and other remote settings. A total of 49 hospitals are serviced through this program.