An Australian expeditioner has been medically evacuated from Antarctica following a five-day mission involving ships, helicopters and planes.
Australia, China and the US were working together to bring the patient home and have been successful in their endeavors.
Complex And Challenging Mission
The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) has praised the “outstanding achievement” of operations described as “complex and challenging”.
Patient status details were not disclosed to the public as of now.
Officials say they are not related to the coronavirus.
China And US Help
The Australian expeditioner was at the Davis research station that is located in eastern Antarctica when the project began.
The AAD said it was “fortunate for the multi-nation operation” that a Chinese icebreaker had happened to pass by. It has sent helicopters to transport an Australian team 40 miles (25 miles) inland, so that they can build a ski route so that a US plane can land where it can pick up a patient.
Meanwhile, an American Basler jet flew with a flight distance of 2,200km from US McMurdo research station to Australia’s Wilkins Aerodrome to pick up an Australian doctor.
It then made its journey to a ski-way near Davis, where the patient was picked (it took the patient) back to Wilkins Aerodrome.
An Australian Airbus A319 transported the patient back to the Australian city of Hobart the day before Christmas, that is, on Christmas eve. What a happy news!
Antarctica Brings Nations Together
The AAD said international co-operation was important, as Australia currently does not have small ski-equipped intracontinental aircraft in Antarctica.
“Antarctica is bringing countries together to support each other,” said AAD director Kim Ellis.
“We have been doing these medevacs for a long time, but this work has been a very good spirit of international cooperation.”
