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High drama on the high seas

Bupa International doctor Poul Erik Hansen has experience of delivering healthcare in the most extreme conditions – from ‘Pirate Alley’ to the frontline in Afghanistan.

 
Bupa International doctor Poul Erik Hansen

He’s a doctor dealing with medical emergencies on a daily basis as part of the Bupa International evacuation team in Denmark.

But Poul Erik Hansen is no stranger to danger himself. As a medic on Danish Navy battleships, he’s served in war zones and encountered pirates. He’s been deployed on search and rescue operations and military missions in hot spots including Afghanistan and the Gulf of Arden.

Bupa International Senior Medical Consultant Poul Erik is part of a six-strong team of doctors offering guidance to colleagues and customers.

“We are on call 24 hours a day to offer medical advice and evaluate every claim to ensure the treatment we pay for is approved and recognised as good medical practice.”

As a young doctor, Poul Erik joined the Royal Danish Navy for a year of national service. Conscription is compulsory in Denmark, with young Danes required to spend between four and 13 months with a branch of the armed forces.

“I chose the navy as I had always enjoyed sailing,” he says. “I spent time in the North Atlantic as a medical officer with the Danish fleet involved in search and rescue missions protecting the country’s interests around Greenland.”

After working as a general and gastrointestinal surgeon in Danish hospitals, the lure of life on the ocean saw him return to the navy as chief medic with the clinical section of the Aero and Naval Medical Centre, in Copenhagen. He has also taken part in land missions in Afghanistan, at the Kandahar Multinational Field Hospital as part of a surgical team operating on injured soldiers, including Canadian and British troops.

Alongside his role as a Senior Bupa International Medic, Poul Erik has been stationed onboard HDMS (Her Danish Majesty’s Ship) Absalon, one of the navy’s largest battleships that has seen action in combat zones around the world.

“As the ship’s SMO (Senior Medical Officer) I am part of a small team dealing with medical emergencies such as injury and illness,” he says. “The crew of 150 is young and strong and the medical needs are usually very minor, but we also assist civilian ships that report a medical crisis or need to arrange an evacuation.”

Tours to some of the most dangerous and remote parts of the world mean that onboard surgery equipment is required to deal with emergency operations. Such facilities are vital for Poul Erik and the HDMS Absalon medical team during special missions to locations such as the Gulf of Arden – a waterway between Yemen and Somalia nicknamed ‘Pirate Alley’ due to the abundance of looting and kidnapping on that part of the Suez Canal.

“I’ve been involved in confrontations with pirates and they often have dangerous weapons. We have to be prepared to deal with casualties requiring surgery onboard before it is safe enough to airlift them to hospital.

“On one occasion we came across a typical small pirate vessel on a dark night, using infrared cameras,” he recalls. “They were confronted by our Special Forces troops and we brought eight pirates onboard for questioning.

“They were all really young – just boys really – in very poor health. They were heavily armed so we searched their boat and confiscated their weapons and other devices. But, because we had not caught them in action, we released them.

“My impression was of a group of desperate children forced into crime as a result of poverty in a region which is disintegrating because of internal conflicts. Returning these boys to their boat knowing they had little hope of a promising future was a sad moment but there is no easy solution to the situation.”

Despite the potential hazards of navy life, Poul Erik insists that his role is a rewarding one.

“At sea we often never see land or other vessels, although we are sometimes accompanied by pods of dolphins. We are usually a long way from quality medical facilities but are committed to providing the highest standard of care possible before a member of our crew can be transported to hospital.”

Bupa International customers can take comfort in the knowledge that whatever emergency they face, from falling ill in an unfamiliar country to picking up a serious injury in a remote region, on the other end of the telephone is a doctor with the experience of delivering high levels of medical care in the kind of environments more extreme than most of us could imagine.

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