Thule Air Base supports medevac from local village

Published June 24, 2008
By 1st Lt. Nicole Langley
821st Air Base Group Public Affairs

THULE AIR BASE, Greenland -- Thule Air Base recently provided critical medical care to a local Inuit woman after a stabbing in a nearby village.

A medevac was requested by the physician in Qaanaaq, a village of about 600 people located approximately 65 miles north of the base, to pick up a woman who had been stabbed in the abdomen. There are no roads between villages and with much of the sea still covered with ice, dog sleds are the only other means of transportation, a three-day journey to the base.

"The patient from Qaanaaq came in on Tuesday afternoon, June 17, via Air Greenland helicopter," said Capt. Edward Jackowski, Thule Air Base medical liaison officer.

Without any U.S. Air Force aircraft assigned to the base, medevacs are only possible if the Air Greenland Bell 212 helicopter stationed on base is able to support. Under extreme emergency situations, the base commander can also approve the base's doctor to go on the medevac to provide immediate care. The base's partnership with Air Greenland enables transportation for contractors and also provides access for five northern Greenland villages to the people living there.

With the most modern clinic in northern Greenland and doctors able to provide emergency medical care, the air base is willing to provide care to Greenlanders who are able to get to the base.

"We are part of the Qaanaaq District family and we're committed to supporting the nearby villages," said Col. Lee-Volker Cox, Thule Air Base commander. "When they have an emergency and need help, they can count on us."

The small dirt airstrip at Qaanaaq was soft mud due to recent heavy rains so aircraft could not land there and the call for help came to the base. The original plan for this medevac was to have the helicopter pick up the patient, fly back to the base, and immediately transfer the woman to an awaiting King Air plane - with a physician onboard - which would then depart for a hospital in Nuuk, the island's capital city, explained Captain Jackowski.

Due to poor weather and aircraft crew rest issues, the patient remained at the base clinic until June 19, at which time she was transferred to Nuuk.

Upon arriving at the clinic, the patient was stabilized and received the best care possible, including an ultrasound of the stomach and blood tests to check for internal bleeding, permanent suction due to bleeding in the stomach cavity, antibiotic IV therapy and around the clock vital sign checks, the captain said.

"When you're at one of the most remote places on Earth, more than 700 miles inside the Arctic Circle, everyone needs to come together and support each other," Colonel Cox said. "The men and women of Thule Air Base have been doing this for years and will continue far into the future."

Air base provides support to local village