Álex García from Biscay has already been admitted to the Cruces hospital | The truth

The Government delegate in the Basque Country, Marisol Garmendia, was also waiting for him at the Biscayan airfield facilities, who has described the repatriation operation as a “success.” “The medicalized military aircraft has landed before the scheduled time and the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, has been permanently informed and in continuous contact with both the family and the Cruces hospital,” she revealed. The government representative wanted to thank “the work, effort and professionalism of the entire military medical and assistance team of the Aeroevacuation Medical Unit that has made this difficult operation possible, which ends happily.” “Now all that remains is to hope that Álex recovers as soon as possible alongside his family,” Garmendia wished.

Doctors from the Spanish air evacuation unit visited the patient at the Bangkok health center to learn first-hand about the situation in which Álex was facing his transfer. They have been accompanied by the ambassador of Spain, Felipe de la Morena.

Five doctors and four military nurses participate in the operational complex. Álex is accompanied by two relatives – his mother, Tere, and his sister-in-law Saioa – and an ambulance from Osakidetza will be waiting to take him immediately to Cruces. The Basque Health Service has established the action protocol to guarantee the quality and safety of care for the young man from Biscay but living in Lasarte-Oria.

As reported on Friday by sources from the Basque Department of Health, once the family had been consulted and at the expense of ministerial guidelines, the Health Care Directorate of the Basque Public Health Service has decided that the patient be transferred from Loiu to the Cruces University Hospital.

The young man had been admitted in critical condition for almost two months in the Intensive Care Unit of a private hospital in Bangkok (Thailand). What should have been an idyllic trip to Thailand for this couple of 34 and 36 years old turned into the worst experience of their lives on February 25, when Álex began to feel severe chest pains and suffered vomiting that led him to admitted to the ICU of a Chiang Mai hospital.

Therefore, on the return trip to Spain the military plane will land directly at the Bilbao airport and not in Torrejón de Ardoz. Furthermore, from Osakidetza they explain that it has been chosen to be evacuated to Cruces “because it is the closest health center to the Biscayan airfield, and because of the speed and ease of transfer.” As detailed, once the military plane lands, the transfer will be carried out in an Advanced Life Support ambulance (ALS) from the Osakidetza Emergency Service.

The medicalized vehicle has the specialist team (intensivist doctor) responsible for the entire treatment and monitoring process of the patient to receive information on their condition at that very moment, first-hand. Thus, in the SVA ambulance, you will have the necessary information for a first clinical evaluation, both by the medical team in charge of the air transfer, and through your own on-site examination.

“Large financial outlay”

For her part, the Government delegate in Euskadi, Marisol Garmendia, in statements to Radio Euskadi, indicated on Friday that “the Government is going to fulfill the commitment made to the family. Bringing Álex is the main wish of his family, which is already counting the minutes until his loved one lands in Euskadi, his wife Usoa assured this newspaper this Thursday.

The couple, who have two children, had taken out travel insurance that covered medical expenses up to 100,000 euros and “unlimited repatriation” of one person. But after that coverage ran out a couple of weeks ago, the family faces a hospital cost of 5,000 euros per day which, added to the 221,000 euros allocated to the second of the unsuccessful repatriations, makes a total of more than 260,000 euros.