Since the beginning of the pandemic the Luxembourg Air Rescue has taken on the colossal task of transporting Covid patients from abroad to be treated in one of the Grand Duchy's hospitals.
President René Closter explained that this was unusual in the sense that normally, the organisation only transports patients from a scene (of an accident) to a hospital, but not back home: "We were used to seeing people only on the occasion of an accident. Now, we also help bring them back to their homes."
The Luxembourg Air Rescue has thus been awarded the 2020 Adenauer-de Gaulle Prize for its support. "A busy year is coming to an end, with more operations and maintenance work than usual."
Read also: Air Rescue awarded prize for its French patient transfers
Plans are now being made to purchase a larger plane in the foreseeable future, as a means to cover distances twice as long as is currently the case. Closter conveyed that the organisation's smaller planes are increasingly facing difficulties around the world, often not being awarded the permission to land for an intermediate stop. A problem which can be eradicated with a larger machine.
One of the Air Rescue hangars is moreover set to become a temporary vaccination centre. Preparations are being made for it to be ready for patients in the new year.
