No one likes to get sick, but taking care of it doesn’t sound that hard, does it? You look up the nearest hospital or clinic, go see a doctor, get checked out and prescribed treatment.
Things get a bit more complicated when you get sick on an island. On many Croatian islands, especially the smaller ones, there are no hospitals and sometimes no clinics – there’s a family doctor or a dentist, but they’re here to take care of those run-of-the-mill issues. Coughs, colds, fevers and similar things that can be treated with over-the-counter meds and a couple of days of rest aren’t a problem, but what if there’s a more serious emergency? If someone has severe problems due to heat, or has a heart attack, or needs any other type of treatment, that’s where special speedboats come in.
The Port Authority Zadar had six cases of urgent interventions in the last three days when patients had to be taken to the hospital from various islands in Zadar archipelago. On such occasions, the boat first needs to pick up the patient, then an available doctor who often isn’t found on the same location. The patients need to be accompanied by a doctor during the ride as someone needs to take official responsibility for the boat transfer from an island to a medical institution.
Port Authorities are otherwise working under the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, but they help the Ministry of Health as well, as the latter still doesn’t have a solution for organising healthcare on the islands scattered around the Adriatic. Those speedboats and the island doctors saved many lives, and even helped bring some to light – a pregnant woman was recently transferred from Sali to Zadar to give birth in a hospital.
Things are finally looking up, as it was just announced the Ministry of Health is introducing a special speedboat for patient transport, reports Morski.hr. The boat already arrived to the Borik marina in Zadar, and will soon start to help people on their way to getting the treatment they need. The boat speed goes up to 60 knots and makes it possible to get from Split to Pula in 2.5 hours – it’s obvious why the boat is called the Sea Lightning (Morska munja). The price of a fully-equipped specialised boat can reach €650.000.
Take a look at the latest addition to the much-needed transfer system in this video by HRT Radio Zadar:
