Taking Flight, Saving Lives

Makoto Kobayashi, Emergency Physician An air ambulance service uses helicopters to rush doctors to the scene of medical emergencies. Makoto Kobayashi, leader of an emergency medicine team at a hospital in Hyogo Prefecture, makes 1,900 air ambulance flights per year, more than any other doctor in Japan. His vision for emergency medicine is that it be a "vital cog in the community". The air ambulance provides peace of mind in a rural region where it would take a road ambulance an hour to reach some communities