Today's operations were doubly difficult because of adverse weather conditions.
In a major exercise in Lakshadweep, the Indian Navy launched a multiple rescue mission today to fly out patients in need of emergency medical evacuation from the islands in the Indian Ocean to the naval base at Kochi. And all this, through heavy monsoon rains and low visibility.
One of those evacuated was a nine month old girl with a broken leg and a 70-year-old patient who had fractured his hip. They were stranded on Kiltan and flown 111 km away to Agatti which has an airbase.
Then the helicopter had to fly to Minicoy 297 km away to rescue a man who had suffered a heart attack. The helicopter landed at Minicoy but too late. The patient had died.
The infant and the man with the hip fracture were flown out from Agatti in a Dornier aircraft which brought them to INS Garuda, the naval base at Kochi.
Normally, for medical care, islanders wait for the regular boats to come around and take them to the Lakshadweep capital, Kavaratti. But in emergencies, the Navy has to often chip in making use of the airbase at Agatti 55 km away from the capital.
Today's operations were doubly difficult because of adverse weather conditions.
"It was a mammoth exercise in the most difficult weather. The helicopters had to fly huge distances in poor visibility," said Commander Sridhar Warrier, the Navy's spokesperson at Kochi.
Lakshadweep, in India's south western tip, is an archipelago of 36 islands, most of them uninhabited. There are some medical facilities available locally and in the union territory's capital, Kavaratti. But for medical emergencies, most patients need to be brought to the mainland.