A sick man was taken to a hospital in Bode, Norway, recently. He needed an ECMO machine which supports the heart and lungs. Without this machine, he would die in a matter of hours. The nearest machine was at a hospital in Trondheim, 280 miles away, a ten-hour journey by car. There seemed to be no hope, until doctors remembered there's an air force base near Trondheim. They called the base and learned an F-16 fighter jet like the one shown here was available to transport the life-saving machine.
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The swift action of the Air Force was praised by doctors, who said, "It's very rare we have to borrow equipment on such short notice from another hospital." How fast was the delivery? "Usually we spend about 35 minutes in the air," said Lt. Col. Borge Kkeppe, leader of 338 Squadron, "but because of the special cargo, the pilot gave a little extra, so he was there in less than 25 minutes." Forty minutes after the first call asking for help, the medical equipment had arrived.
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