In a country where distance, terrain and the limited number of ambulances can delay emergency care, cooperation between Mission Aviation Fellowship and the national ambulance service is helping ensure critically ill patients reach hospital in time.
Story by Mary Domtta
When patients cannot safely travel by road, since 2007 MAF aircraft have helped evacuate them from municipalities across Timor-Leste to the national hospital in Dili.
Dr Simplicio Amaral de Deus, a general doctor who has served in a director role since 2023, said the partnership between Servisu Nasional Ambulancia Emergencia Medika (SNAEM) and MAF has become a necessity for the country.
“This partnership is very beneficial and important for the people and government of Timor-Leste,” he said.
Before working in Dili, Dr Simplicio served patients across seven municipalities. Through that experience, he saw how difficult it can be to transfer critically ill patients when roads are poor and time is short.
“The patients that we really cannot evacuate by land need air transport,” he said. “Places like Lautém, Suai, Viqueque and Oecusse need aircraft badly because of the road conditions. The patient needs to be evacuated to Dili hospital quickly.”
For critical cases, minutes matter.
“Some people might die on the spot,” Dr Simplicio said. “But when MAF comes within 30 or 40 minutes, the patients can reach hospital quickly and get saved.”
We don’t have aircraft in the government to evacuate patients from all the territory. Only MAF can help.
Dr Domingos Gaspar Brito, an emergency doctor at Guido Valadares National Hospital, said aircraft help bring distant municipalities closer to treatment.
“The aircraft makes the distance closer,” he said. “We only need a short time to transfer the patients from the municipalities to Dili to receive advanced treatment.”
Dr Simplicio wants people to understand the pressure the health system carries every day. There are now 14 municipalities, and ambulance resources are limited.
“Every municipality only has one or two ambulances,” he said. “If one has a problem, only one is left. And some ambulances are old, so the risk is big.”
Road conditions add another layer of challenge, especially during the rainy season.
“When it’s the rainy season and there is flooding, the ambulance cannot enter,” he said. “Our primary aim is to secure ourselves before securing our patients. So, sometimes we cannot reach them.”
Because of that, air evacuation becomes even more important for critical patients.
Dr Simplicio said patient transfers by air happen regularly. Each month, MAF evacuates between 20 and 25 patients, and in the last five years more than 250 patients have been evacuated each year.
For Dr Simplicio, one thing stands out about MAF — the way staff care for patients beyond the flight.
“When MAF evacuates patients, they don’t stop at the airport,” he said. “Their chaplains or personnel also visit the hospitals to see the patients and ask how they are. MAF helps patients with kits like clothes and other basic things. These are also big successes.
“We don’t have aircraft in the government to evacuate patients from all the territory. Only MAF can help. Therefore, MAF’s purpose as a humanitarian mission to help Timor-Leste is a reality we all see.”
He also said the Christian identity of MAF is something he notices.
“I want to thank the MAF team because I have seen them — before they evacuate patients, they always pray,” he said.
“This strengthens our spirit. It shows that MAF’s work is not for profit, but to help people, from their Christian values.”
