Tristan da Cunha, United Kingdom. British paratroopers, medics and medical supplies were dropped onto Tristan da Cunha after a suspected hantavirus case was confirmed on the remote overseas territory. The Ministry of Defence said the airdrop aimed to deliver urgent care and oxygen supplies.
Parachute deployment and flight route
A team of six paratroopers and two military clinicians from 16 Air Assault Brigade jumped from an RAF A400M transport aircraft. The aircraft flew 6,788 km (4,218 miles) from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to Ascension Island, then another 3,000 km south to Tristan da Cunha.
Dropped alongside them on Saturday were oxygen supplies and other medical aid. The A400M was refuelled mid-flight by a supporting RAF Voyager.
Ministry of Defence statement on first medical airdrop
The operation is the first time the UK military has deployed medical personnel to provide humanitarian support via a parachute jump, the Ministry of Defence said.
“With oxygen supplies on the island at a critical level, an airdrop with medical personnel was the only method of getting vital care to the patient in time,” the Ministry of Defence statement said.
Suspected case linked to cruise ship visit
The supplies were primarily destined for a British man who UK health authorities said was a passenger on a cruise ship that was hit by a hantavirus outbreak and which docked at the island between April 13 and 15. The World Health Organization said the man reported symptoms compatible with hantavirus on April 28, and that he is stable and in isolation.
PCR tests were previously delivered by military plane on May 7 to Ascension Island, where another British man from the cruise ship had disembarked before being medically evacuated to South Africa.
Isolation of Tristan da Cunha
Tristan da Cunha, home to around 200 people, is halfway between South Africa and South America. It is the world’s remotest inhabited island, more than 2,400 km and a six-day boat ride from St Helena, its nearest inhabited neighbour.
The island usually relies on a medical team of two people and is normally only accessible by boat as it has no airstrip.
Response from 16 Air Assault Brigade
“The arrival of paratroopers, medical personnel and medical supplies from the sky has hopefully reassured the people of Tristan da Cunha,” said Brigadier Ed Cartwright, Officer Commanding 16 Air Assault Brigade.
How do you think remote communities should be supported when urgent medical evacuations are not possible?
