Every flight under the Heart Action is unique and unforgettable. We feel that we are helping to save lives, say soldiers who have been active in transplant support operations for 40 years. all year, a military device transports the organs essential for the transplant. 2 years ago, we had an chance to take a closer look at how this action was going.
The sound of the telephone storms Saturday morning. "We have the Heart Action today". If you want to fly with us, I'll see you at the airport in 2 hours." Time is abruptly speeding up, and coffee is no longer needed to wake up. little than an hr later, I'm on my way to the 8th Balice Air Base. M-28 B/PT Bryza and C-295M CASA transport aircraft are stationed there.
On the airstrip, I meet a crew of breezes that will fly present as part of the “heart action”. “Are you not afraid to come with us?” the crew commander talks. Mariusz (at the request of the unit's command we do not specify the pilot's names) is in his 40s. He's a master-class pilot, flight attendant and flight instructor. He spent 4.2 1000 hours in the air. In “The Heart Action” active for respective years. "We are waiting for a transplant squad and we are going to Mazury. On the way back, we will blow up doctors in Katowice and in the evening we will be home," he says.
Sadness mixes with joy
Medicalians from the Silesian Heart illness Center (SCCS) in Zabrze arrive at the airport with a fewer minutes late. The cardiosurgeon, 2 nurses and a transplant coordinator with SCCS are well aware of the procedures, due to the fact that they have already participated respective times in military flights. ‘Ted’, on-board technicians, helps them bring medical transporters into the aircraft and indicates the places on board. A short safety instructions and we're off. I'm sitting right behind the cockpit, I got headphones on my ears. I hear radio correspondence from pilots with air controllers and crew conversations. “It will blow in Szymanach. You will have the chance to land with the side wind”, says Mariusz. Note is addressed to ‘Murawa’, a freshly baked 8 BLTr pilot. He's been serving in the Balic Islands for 4 months. "You'll like it here. It's not the same in civilians. There you will not fly “mowers” [in the air jargon about mowing flights], you will not land specials and make tactical landings on the grass. Here, yes," says Mariusz.
The flight to Mazury is very quiet, and the comfort of passengers is taken care of by board technicians. "Ted" has been associated with aviation since the 1990s, spent 3.5 1000 hours in the air, participated on multiple flights for transplantation. 2 ambulances are already waiting on the board of Olsztyn-Mazury Airport. fast repack, and we're going to the hospital. There's a transplant coordinator waiting for us before we go in. It leads to a locker area where we wear disposable medical gowns, infirmary shoes, bonnets and masks. We go into the prep room, and erstwhile another door opens to me, I see a young man's body on the operating table. “Can individual shave his stomach?” I hear a voice from the another end of the room. I turn around and leave quickly.
Doctors explain that many organs will be taken – the deceased is simply a donor of heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. “The best thing we can do after we die is become an organ donor. In this way we give individual a chance to live a fresh life”, says Krzysztof Tkocz, an anesthesiology nurse, and since 1997 besides the transplant coordinator from the Silesian clinic. I know he's right. However, I think of the tragedy that the relatives of the deceased suffer, and the joy of those who are now preparing for their operations in various hospitals.
According to the law in force in Poland, the organ donor may be the individual in whom the medical board ruled death as a consequence of brain death or irreversible cardiac arrest. And only 1 who, in her lifetime, did not object. Before the decision is made to posthumously collect organs, however, doctors ask the deceased’s loved ones for permission. “If the household refuses, we don’t push,” explains the physicians.
On on-board engines
“Do you truly want to see your organs harvested up close? I was at 4 births of my children, but I don't think I could do it.” Mariusz talks on the flight. I callback those words erstwhile I enter the O.R. again. There are about 20 people around the deceased in blue aprons. A fewer doctors are standing at the operating table, and the another doctors and nurses are all around. Although it is simply a large group, there is no noise, confusion and confusion – everyone knows what to do.
Medical examiners explain that fresh tests are performed just before the organ is collected. “The exact diagnosis was done earlier, but we inactive confirm that everything is correct. due to the fact that our squad is taking lungs today, I just performed a bronchoscopy and a gasometry. Both results came out very well. If we open the chest, I'll make a visual evaluation of the lungs. But everything indicates that they are in excellent shape”, says Dr. Piotr Pasek, a cardiosurgeon from the Silesian Heart illness Center in Zabrze. He explains that 51 lung transplants were performed in SCCS last year and 50 hearts were transplanted. Many of these operations were possible thanks to military support.
"I have been coordinating transplants since 1997 and have been working with the military always since. I'm very grateful for your help. Without it, half of these operations would not have been possible at all," Tkocz says. He mentions that he flew military planes all over Poland, including Białystok, Olsztyn, Szczecin. "A fewer years ago, we returned with our heart to transplant during specified a blizzard that the ploughs were not keeping up with the cleaning of the runway. We were tense as hell. All the controls on the plane were red, but the pilots landed perfectly anyway. That's why I always say that if the military says it can't fly, no 1 will,” says a caregiver from SCCS. He adds: “Military pilots are large professionals. We've thanked them so many times, but I feel like it's always not enough. I could usage an appointment after work. But there is no way – on work is always either us or them.”
During our conversation, at 2:25 p.m., the donor's aorta is confounded. From that point on, the race starts with time. They're the first surgeons out of the O.R. to take the heart for the transplant. Then the lungs are removed. An organ immersed in a peculiar fluid, covered with ice, goes into a transport refrigerator, and just a fewer minutes later we rush ambulances to the airport. Medics are looking at the watch. "It's not bad, we have a good time. But if we took the heart today, it would be nerves," says Krzysztof Tkocz.
More details are given by surgeon Piotr Pasek. "Time is the most crucial thing in transplantation. We request to get donor organs to the recipient's facility as shortly as possible. Many times these facilities are hundreds of miles apart, and we value our work with the military. This time, we collect the organs at the another end of Poland, without the aid of military aviation we would not have the chance to save the patient in Zabrze," says the doctor. He adds: “It has been assumed that for the heart the time limit is 4 hours after the intake, for the lungs a maximum of 8 hours, the liver can be transplanted up to 12 hours, and the kidneys can be transplanted even within 24 hours. Of course, the shorter the period of organ ischemia, the better.”
Christmas — Friday
When we take ambulances to the airport plate, the plane has already turned on its engines. We're fast-tracking, fast-fastening. “Ted” carefully mounts medical transporters and checks that they are unchangeable during flight. We start at 4.20. The aircraft carrying the organs for transplantation is given the position of ‘hospital’. This means that air traffic services prioritise it and lead the crew to the goal of the shortest route, and at airports they give precedence to taxiing, take-off and landing. ‘For each pilot, the Heart Action is of peculiar importance. We are arrogant to bring real aid to society. No 1 always refuses to take specified a flight, although very frequently they take place late at night, on holidays, frequently on weekends," says Mariusz. The crew commander emphasizes that they are not the only ones who treat medical flights in an exceptional way. As an example, Olsztyn-Mazury airport services, which specifically extended the beginning hours of the airport for the Heart Action.
In Katowice, we land around 5:30 p.m., medicalians decision to ambulances. "Please send a message. Let's hope the operation succeeds!', throws a crew commander on the retreat towards the medics. A minute later, we start again, this time we fly towards Balica. “This is my first work as part of the “heart action” and the first flight for transplantation”, says “Muraw”. “I learned about my flight yesterday just before midnight. The stress and excitement kept me awake. I'm glad I'm here. I feel like I am active in saving lives," she admits. “When I get a text after “The Heart” with a message about a successful transplant, I am truly happy. That's the best thanks we've got. My wife then tells children that Dad is simply a hero due to the fact that he helped save someone’s heart”, says the crew commander.
The lung transplant worked. A 40 - year - old man was given the chance of a new, healthy life.
The text comes from the monthly magazine "Army Poland", No. 5/2023.
