Guará Squadron reaches a record number of organs transported. In previous years, 2020 and 2021, 96 and 81 units were transported, respectively
Air Force Agency, by Lieutenant Eniele Santos
A flight that saves lives! Attentive 24 hours a day, 365 days a year! This is how the performance of the Sixth Air Transport Squadron (6th ETA) – Guará Squadron can be defined. And, on November 24th, a mark – full of emotion and pride – was reached: the Guará Squadron transported the 100th organ, in the year 2022.
The mission began at 23h22 (Brasília time), when the Command and Control Officer of the Brasília Air Base (BABR) called a standby crew from the 6th ETA to transport a liver, from Porto Velho (RO) to Brasília (DF). From that moment on, a race against the clock began, and shortly after, the VC-97 FAB 2004 aircraft took off with the sole objective of saving one more life.
The first part of this mission was to transport, from Brasilia (DF), the medical team responsible for organ harvesting. Once the procedures were finished and the liver was ready to be transported, the crew took off back to the Federal Capital, where the recipient was already being prepared for the transplant, which was performed by the doctors on board.
According to the Commander of the aircraft involved in the mission, Lieutenant Airman Murilo Foscaches, the flight of life is not unique to the 6th ETA, but he is extremely proud to belong to a squadron that is at the forefront of important missions for the Brazilian population.
“A number full of symbolism: it is the first Squadron to reach three digits in one year, a record that can still be broken. Many hours flown at dawn. But its greatest importance are the 100 recipients and their families who, in some way, had their lives transformed,” he reports.
For the Commander of the 6th ETA, Lieutenant Colonel André Maia, the response time to the constant calls attests to the Air Unit’s readiness. “Our crew members know that each minute can make the difference in the success of the transplant. For those who are in the waiting line, waiting for a donor, the take-off of a Guará is the certainty of better days after landing. It is the flight of life on the wings of the Brazilian Air Force,” he said.
6TH AIR TRANSPORT SQUADRON
The Sixth Airlift Squadron (6th ETA), based at the Brasília Air Base (BABR), is an FAB air unit whose mission is to carry out air and troop transport missions; command link and aeromedical evacuation.
Currently, the 6th ETA operates the C-95CM, C-97, C-98 and U-100 Phenom aircraft, and is subordinated to the Sixth Regional Air Command (IV COMAR), where it performs logistics functions that allow the flow of material and personnel. In addition, the Military Organization also performs actions on behalf of other federal public administration agencies – serving state and municipal governments – in cases of public calamities, transporting the sick, and social and humanitarian aid actions.
With the arrival of the U-100 Phenom, there was an increase in the Squadron’s mission, related to the transport of organs, which provides lifesaving for hundreds of Brazilians.
Legal framework
Law 9.175/17 provides for organs, tissues, cells, and parts of the human body for transportation and treatment purposes. And, according to the legal provision, the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) must keep an aircraft always available to fulfill missions of this nature, in response to the demands of the Ministry of Health (MS).
The National Transplant System (NTS) relies on the support of the FAB to transport medical collection teams, which can mobilize in less than two hours to pick up the organ and take it to the recipient anywhere in Brazil.
The Aerospace Operations Command (COMAE) is responsible for planning missions of this nature. According to data from the Military Organization (OM), livers and hearts are the most common organ transport loads carried out by the Air Force.
Photos: Air Force Agency *** Translated by the DEFCONPress FYI Team ***