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Karpathos: Patient waiting for airlift dies because of runway lights

A 65-year-old patient man died while he was waiting for an ambulance airlift from the island of Karpathos to the neighboring Rhodes.

According to the man’s family, the transferred was delayed due to technical problems at Karpathos airport as well as some mismanagement of the airlift  from ambulance service and the Air Force.

Speaking to Rhodes daily rodiaki.gr, the deceased’s son-in-law said that the the plane of the ambulance service EKAV could not land at the island’s airport as the lights of the runway would not turn on. The EKAV plane had started from Elefsina airport in Attica and could only land on Rhodes.

The patient’s relative claimed that the problems at Karpathos airport were responsible for the delay that led to the death of his father-in-law.

“It is unheard of what we experienced and it resulted in the tragic end of our relative,” the son in law stressed.

It all started shortly after 2 p.m. on Tuesday, when the patient’s health condition  deteriorated. “We knew that his health problem was very serious and his condition very aggravated.”

The family alerted the ambulance service and moved from the hospital to the airport accompanied by doctors.

“After we got there and waited with the patient in critical condition, some time later we were informed that the landing of the aircraft would be delayed because the landing lights at Karpathos airport were not on!”

The group was forced to return to the hospital s the oxygen bottles were running out. The ambulance plane ultimately landed on the island at 11 o’ clock at night, too late for the suffering patient who died before reaching the hospital on Rhodes.had did not manage to reach the hospital in Rhodes and died meanwhile lost his life.

  • After the necessary tests were done, the doctors around 14:00 decided to airlift the patient.
  • Around 16:30 to 17:00, the patient was taken by ambulance to the airport and remained on the runway for 2-3 hours due to a malfunction in the runway lighting and then returned to the hospital.
  • At 23:00, he was taken back to the airport and the flight to Rhodes took place, however the 63-year-old ended up shortly before reaching the hospital.

The patient’s family has meanwhile requested the intervention of every authority in charge and asked an investigation by the Rhodes Prosecutor’s Office to check whether everyone in charge did their job properly.

“Ping pong” with responsibilities

Citing sources of the Air Force, news website tvxs.gr noted that the case was complicated the prioritization of the incidents on the part of EKAV has played a “key” role.

According to the Air Force, as soon as it became known that the airport of Karpathos had no lights, they reported to EKAV that there is a Super Puma available that can land at the island’s airport.

According to the above sources, EKAV responded that it will first go to pick up another incident from the island of Santorini, bound for Heraklion, Crete.

Sources of EKAV stated that they do not choose which incident they will serve, but take the order and carry it out.

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One comment

  1. Ping pong. Greece’s national sport.