The central government and Kinmen County have agreed that a medical transport helicopter should be permanently stationed in the island county, with the county to pay a portion of the costs, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Cheng-wu (楊鎮浯) said on Friday.
Yang, KMT Legislator Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yang Yao (楊曜) worked for the deal, Yang Cheng-wu said.
Yang Cheng-wu said he considered it his foremost goal to persuade the Ministry of Health and Welfare to station a medivac helicopter in Kinmen, adding that he was glad to see his mission accomplished last month at the conclusion of the bidding process.
Photo: Wu Cheng-ting, Taipei Times
The medivac helicopter would cut the transport time to major hospitals by at least half, which could make the difference between life and death, Yang Cheng-wu said.
The Kinmen County Government was asked to pay 70 percent of the helicopter fees, Yang Cheng-wu said, adding that legislators convinced the ministry to lower the fees by 20 percent.
The ministry agreed to the rate because of Kinmen’s location and lack of medical resources, Yang Cheng-wu said.
The rate the Kinmen government is to pay for the helicopter’s maintenance is to decline in accordance with the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures Act (財政收支劃分法), Yang Cheng-wu said
The county can expect its first medivac by the middle of next year, he said.
Yang Cheng-wu called for closer cooperation between the health ministry and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications when building the helipad and examining the helicopter.
Safety is of the utmost concern, Yang Cheng-wu said, adding that the central government should make a schedule to introduce the service available to local residents.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS