An American couple was engaged in a guided canoeing trip along the Zambezi River, to the east of Victoria Falls. On rounding a bend in the river, the guide spotted a pod of hippos ahead. Knowing the potential threat, the guide advised the party to give them a wide berth. However, accidentally, the couple canoed directly over a female hippo with her calf. The startled adult hippo, reared up, tipped the couple out of their canoe and bit the lady on the leg, causing severe injuries.
The guide alerted the lodge, who called SATIB24 straight away. The SATIB24 duty Response Co-ordinator, on recognising the severity of the situation, immediately mobilised an air evacuation helicopter to attend the scene.
The medical team proceeded to instruct the tour guide in applying first aid, at the scene, in order to control blood loss, until the helicopter arrived to evacuate the casualty to the nearest medical facility at Victoria Falls, only 12km from the scene. At the same time a communications platform was set up with the incident stakeholders included.
The SATIB24 medical team confirmed the casualty had arrived at Heath Bridge Hospital, where the hospital team succeeded in arresting the blood loss and assessed the extent of her injuries. These were identified as: multiple crush injuries of the right leg, multiple fractures of the femur, 3 x large avulsions on the leg, large laceration on the calf, and as a result, the decision was taken to transfer her to Johannesburg for extensive treatment.
SATIB24 successfully organised the patient’s evacuation by air ambulance from Victoria Falls airport, to Lanseria airport, Johannesburg from where she was transported by ground ambulance to, Netcare Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg, where a team from Netcare Milpark Emergency Department was awaiting her arrival.
During this case SATIB24 provided full incident management, medical and logistics support, guarantee of payments and communications with stakeholders, policy advice, and coordination with multiple hospitals.
