Mytilene: Reverse Air Transfer Saves Lives – Doctor Flies from Athens to Island

Typically, it’s the patient who is transferred to the doctor. In this case, the reverse happened: a doctor was airlifted from Athens to Mytilene to save a 41-year-old man suffering from a heart attack. On June 1, 2025, an air transfer by the EKAB (Emergency Medical Care Service) aircraft took place to save the life of a 41-year-old Mytilenian who had suffered a severe heart attack and cardiac arrest. The patient was initially brought back to Mytilene Hospital, where he was examined by the team of cardiologists from the Angiodynamics Laboratory under Dr. Panagiotis Andronikos. They concluded that the patient could not endure the stress of being airlifted to Athens. Consequently, an intervention cardiologist, Lieutenant Anastasios Milkas, stationed at the Naval Hospital in Athens, was chosen to be flown to Mytilene. During the flight to Mytilene, the aircraft crew learned they needed to make an additional stop in Santorini to pick up a 49-year-old Egyptian worker who had also suffered an acute and extensive heart attack. Both patients were transferred to Mytilene Hospital, where angioplasty interventions were successfully performed. By 5 PM, both patients were out of danger and are now being monitored in the Coronary Unit. These life-saving interventions involved cardiologists Vassilis Kikilias and Panagiotis Andronikos, technologists Ignatios Intziridis and Giorgos Koukounas, and Spyros Patseles, head of the laboratory. It’s worth noting that Dr. Milkas frequently travels between Athens and Mytilene, having completed over 190 such trips to assist local medical teams.