An 8-year old girl from an indigenous tribe in Costa Rica was elated to learn that her stay at the hospital would culminate with an exciting helicopter ride over the green mountains of Talamanca. Officers from the Air Surveillance Service, a specialized unit serving the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP), flew a humanitarian mission to get a little girl and a relative to their homes, which are located deep in the mountainous rain forest.

The indigenous girl was released from the hospital and ordered to continue her bedrest at home; alas, going back home from Doctor Tony Facio public hospital in Limon would require a four-hour walk through muddy trails and dense vegetation guarded by jaguars. The wild felines were not so much of a concern as the trek itself, and thus the air crew of rotary wing unit MSP-008 decided to fly into indigenous territory for the purpose of sticking to doctor’s orders.

Once the little patient was back home in her Talamanca village, the crew of the MSP-008 learned that their assistance was needed in Bajo Piedra de Mesa, also part of the indigenous territories in Talamanca, located in the southern Caribbean region of Costa Rica. Once again, indigenous children required the help of the Air Surveillance Service; this time, however, they needed emergency transportation to the hospital.

Bajo Piedra de Mesa exceeds the description of what is known in Costa Rica as a remote rural village. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, members of Fuerza Publica and the Red Cross who are assigned to these regions know that indigenous communities may require special assistance from time to time, particularly those who live in the midst of the rain forest, where getting to the closest medical facilities requires a veritable jungle excursion.

And so the MSP-008 landed on a clearing near Bajo Piedra and airlifted a three-month old baby and a four-year old girl who required emergency medical assistance. They were flown to another clearing close to a rural road where a Red Cross ambulance awaited to render first aid and further transport.