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Medical evacuations among offshore oil and gas industries in the Gulf of Thailand
, 1
Affiliations- Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, 1873 Rama IV Road, Pathum Wan, 10330 Bangkok, Thailand
- Maritime Medicine Residency Training Institute, Naval Medical Department, Royal Thai Navy, 504 Somdet Phra Chao Tak Sin Rd, Bukkhalo, Thon Buri, 10600 Bangkok, Thailand
open access
Abstract
Background: Medical evacuation in the offshore oil and gas industry is costly and risky. Previous studies have found that the main cause of medical evacuation due to illness is increasing. In Thailand, there have been no studies on the causes and costs of medical evacuation in the offshore oil and gas industry. This study aims to study on the causes and costs of medical evacuation among offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Thailand.
Materials and methods: A retrospective review of data of medical evacuation among the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Thailand from 2016 to 2019 for a period of 36 months.
Results: During the research period, a total of 416 cases were evacuated. The majority of the causes of Medevac (84.13%) were illness. We found that 60.1% of all Medevacs were unpreventable or difficult to prevent, and only 39.9% were preventable. The cost of Medevac ranged from 10,000 to 880,000 THB per case. The cost of Medevac occurring from preventable causes was 17,160,000 THB for this period of 36 months.
Conclusions: Reducing the cost of Medevac can be done by: 1) vaccination to prevent vaccine-preventable diseases, 2) screening to prevent people at risk of getting complications from pre-existing diseases to work offshore, and 3) increasing treatment capability of offshore facilities. Offshore oil and gas industry may consider cost-benefit of these approaches compared to status quo.
Abstract
Background: Medical evacuation in the offshore oil and gas industry is costly and risky. Previous studies have found that the main cause of medical evacuation due to illness is increasing. In Thailand, there have been no studies on the causes and costs of medical evacuation in the offshore oil and gas industry. This study aims to study on the causes and costs of medical evacuation among offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Thailand.
Materials and methods: A retrospective review of data of medical evacuation among the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Thailand from 2016 to 2019 for a period of 36 months.
Results: During the research period, a total of 416 cases were evacuated. The majority of the causes of Medevac (84.13%) were illness. We found that 60.1% of all Medevacs were unpreventable or difficult to prevent, and only 39.9% were preventable. The cost of Medevac ranged from 10,000 to 880,000 THB per case. The cost of Medevac occurring from preventable causes was 17,160,000 THB for this period of 36 months.
Conclusions: Reducing the cost of Medevac can be done by: 1) vaccination to prevent vaccine-preventable diseases, 2) screening to prevent people at risk of getting complications from pre-existing diseases to work offshore, and 3) increasing treatment capability of offshore facilities. Offshore oil and gas industry may consider cost-benefit of these approaches compared to status quo.
Keywords
medical evacuation, Medevacs, oil and gas industry, offshore
About this articleTitle
Medical evacuations among offshore oil and gas industries in the Gulf of Thailand
Journal
Issue
Article type
Original article
Pages
114-122
Published online
2020-06-27
Page views
1416
Article views/downloads
1375
DOI
Pubmed
Bibliographic record
IMH 2020;71(2):114-122.
Keywords
medical evacuation
Medevacs
oil and gas industry
offshore
Authors
Thanawat Sae-Jia
Pornchai Sithisarankul
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