Injured child transferred from Kastellorizo to Turkey as ambulance did not respond

A 4-year-old child on the remote island of Kastellorizo was seriously injured in an accident and her parents took her to a hospital in neighboring Turkey as the Greek ambulance helicopter did not respond to the call for a transfer to the island of Rhodes.

According to media, the girl was seriously injured when an elevator crushed her arm on Wednesday morning.

Despite the fact that an ambulance helicopter was called, her parents chose to transport her to Turkey with a touristic day boat, considering that in this way she would have full medical coverage as soon as possible.

The 4-year-old girl is being treated at the Antalya University Hospital.

The incident brings to the fore the serious perennial deficiencies in the health structures of the islands or one more time, notes daily tanea. In Kastellorizo, air transport should be a routine procedure for residents and thus for cases that could have been treated at the Multipurpose Regional Clinic, if it had been adequately staffed, the daily adds.

The newspaper recalls that it is the second child transferred from the island to Turkey for treatment. The first incident took place in April, when a little boy was injured.

The 4-year-old boy had injured one of his fingers when an iron door shut trapping his hand.

The inability of the doctors on Kastellorizo health center to do more than stopping the bleeding forced the father to transfer his injured child to a private clinic in Turkey.

The doctors had reportedly tried for over half an hour to contact the hospital on Rhodes, as the doctors decided that the child should be transferred to a hospital. However, their efforts were “fruitless.”

Residents of the island assured tanea that they often choose to go to the other side of the Aegean Sea for medical services claiming that such services are of a particularly high standard there.