SA Red Cross Air Mercy Service turns 60
- 8 hours ago
- 6 min read
By Rob Russell
On Thursday, March 26th, the Air Mercy Service marked its 60th anniversary. A gala cocktail party was held at the organisation's hangar complex at Cape Town International Airport to commemorate the occasion.
From its humble beginnings in March 1966, based at Youngsfield airfield, next to Kenilworth racecourse, the Organization evolved into an independent Trust in 1994. The AMS is a non-profit organisation with active operational bases in the Western Cape (Cape Town & Oudtshoorn), KwaZulu-Natal (Durban) and the Eastern Cape (East London, Gqeberha and Mthatha) and supportive infrastructure in the Northern Cape and Free State Provinces that provides an air ambulance network, outreach and emergency rescue services.
Its first aircraft was a Cessna 206 single-engine six-seater aircraft. It was the first and only voluntarily manned air service – the SA Red Cross Air Ambulance Service – in the country. Many of the volunteer pilots were well-known businessmen, doctors and members of the local flying clubs. The service was coordinated by Sister Nicki le Grange, working from the SA Red Cross offices in Wynberg, just up the road from Youngsfield.
Its primary focus was to provide transportation of critically ill and injured persons from remote areas where no adequate medical facilities existed. So successful did the operation prove that it became necessary to look for another larger, two-engined aircraft. With the help of the local Rotary organisations, primarily District 935 – the Cape Town area - funds were raised for a faster Piper Aztec “Spirit of Rotary I”. The society was still manned by volunteer pilots, and it served the greater Western Cape area up to Alexander Bay on the West coast, and as far as George, on the Garden route. Being flown by volunteers, many of the flights were undertaken after business hours and over weekends.
The demand for such a service continued to grow and the faithful Aztec soon proved too small, as did the need for bigger facilities. The search was on for yet another bigger aircraft. One that could accommodate a combination of four stretcher patients and medical attendants. A suitable Piper Chieftain was bought by the society and named “Spirit of Rotary II”. It officially took off from DF Malan Airport for its first flight on Saturday, November 27, 1982. The demand at the time increased threefold, with the Service being called upon to transport a larger percentage of “high-risk” patients requiring sophisticated life support and monitoring equipment. To cater for this need, the Service was once again updated in 1988 with a pressurised Cessna Citation II. It was flown from the States by some of the volunteer pilots themselves, who had gone to the States beforehand to do their conversions.
With the transition to a non-profit trust and the expansion to various other bases, the Citation left the fleet and the modern fleet now consists of several PC12 Pilatus aircraft, as well as various models of Augusta helicopters.
It is the mission of the AMS to support state-run programmes. In addition to its many mercy and ambulance flights, the aircraft are used to carry specialists to various destinations to render rural outreach programmes, clinical training and development for stakeholders and emergency aero-medical/rescue services. The AMS is the only aero-medical operator in Southern Africa which offers a complete package of air-ambulance, health outreach and rescue services, using a mix of fixed-wing and rotor-wing aircraft and ground vehicles.
The organisation provides three services:
Rescue - Specialised medical, mountain and surf rescue services.
Residents of the Cape Town area are used to the helicopters regularly rescuing climbers off Lions Head, especially on a Sat morning, which seems to be a very popular time to fall off the mountain! So regular are these flights, many of the locals joke that they set their watch by the flights!!
The organisation works closely with Cape Metro and the NSRI and together they have been involved in many hazardous missions around the greater Cape Town area, primarily rescuing injured people off mountains or searching for and rescuing swimmers, board sailors that have gotten into difficulty in the treacherous Cape Waters
Air Ambulance
Complements the local road ambulance services by providing rapid emergency aero-medical transportation of patients who are critically ill or injured.
Rural health outreach programme
Assists by flying specialists – many of whom are volunteers, as well as support personnel, to outlying hospitals and far-lying rural areas, many of which are often inaccessible by road.
A large crowd attended the function on Thursday evening. The programme director for the evening was a well-known broadcaster from 567 Cape Talk, Africa Melane.
The first speaker to address the function was Gideon Sam, Chairperson of the AMS trust. He gave a brief history of the organisation, why it started and the vital role it plays in the health organisations of South Africa, as well as the rescue services it undertakes. He mentioned the goal of the organisation was to assist and work towards an equitable health system in SA.
The floor was then handed over to the CEO, Fahraad Haffajee. Fahraad started by thanking the various sponsors of the AMS, without which the organisation would not have grown to where it is today. He spoke briefly about the role of AMS in healthcare and mentioned that the services are based on three core values:
Operational excellence
Sustainable growth and
Collaboration with other medical and rescue services and aligning the AMS product with them
Thereafter, the Platinum Sponsor, Mr Aurelian Blanc, Executive Director Rotortrade and Head of Region, APAC, MEA, addressed the function. He spoke of the relationship his Company has with AMS and the various services they can offer, namely
Sales
Maintenance and
Financing
He was proud to be able to support the AMS and thanked them for the vital role they play in healthcare in SA. He ended by saying that his Company intended to open their next office in South Africa.
The keynote speaker then addressed the function. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma,
Medical doctor and former Minister of Health. She was the first Minister of Health under the Nelson Mandela Government. It was under her leadership that the outreach service developed. She spoke about the role AMS played in the transition of the health system from 1994 until today. The Department of Health partnered with AMS to take vital health services, in the form of medical specialists and clinical services, to rural areas and treat patients there, many of whom were unable to get to urban areas for treatment. She mentioned that as a result of this programme, over 500 000 patients have been treated for various eye problems and have had their vision restored. A very remarkable and unique service.
The AMS rural outreach programme has been a major contributor to improved health services in rural areas. She concluded her speech by thanking the various Corporate partners for their investment and belief in AMS, and mentioned their investment was an investment in the constitutional right of people to health services. She thanked the AMS team, both past and present, mentioning how the past members’ legacy has affected and improved the lives of thousands.
“Every flight, a life is saved”
AMS relies on support from the National Lottery Commission and with this in mind, Jodi Scholtz, Commissioner of the NLC, then addressed the function, stressing the need for strong partnerships to ensure the success of the vital services AMS undertakes, performs and the difference it makes to people and their lives in SA. She concluded by congratulating AMS on its 60th birthday and also the vital role it performs in health services
The final speaker, Fahraad Haffajee, stepped onto the stage to express gratitude to the numerous individuals who were instrumental in the establishment and development of the Air Mercy Service to its current state.
Mention was made of:
Renee de Wet, who gave 23 years of service to the Ambulance service,
Alan Marshall for his 47 years of dedicated service.
John Martin for his 20+ years of service, Dr Philip Erasmus and John Stone, the first CEO, for his vision and innovative leadership in growing the service in its beginnings
He concluded by thanking all those past and present who performed such vital roles and wished for another 60 years of growth and that AMS continues to play a vital role in the health services of South Africa.
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