The military acted under the instruction of President Chen Shui-bian after the Tri-Service General Hospital Penghu branch had requested that the National Airborne Service Corps of the Ministry of the Interior and the Department of Health transport the baby from Penghu to Taipei via helicopter.

The Department of Health’s Huang Mei-na said that its communications with the baby’s mother and staff at the Penghu hospital advised that the baby be sent to Taichung or Kaohsiung, which is closer than Taipei.

National Airborne Service Corps said that it could only transport the baby to either Taichung or Kaohsiung.

The baby’s mother, however, insisted that the baby, surnamed Gan, be sent to Taipei and sought the assistance of legislators.

After reports on baby Gan’s situation surfaced yesterday, President Chen instructed the Ministry of National Defense to dispatch a C-130 transport plane to transport Gan to Taipei.

Baby Gan arrived in Taipei at around noon yesterday, accompanied by her mother and a team of doctors.

National Airborne Service Corps said that its unpressurized helicopters could pose a danger to baby Gan, especially over long distances.

DOH denied that it had refused mother Gan’s request for helicopter transportation to Taipei, saying that, according to their professional evaluation, they advised that baby Gan be sent to Taichung or Kaohsiung.

Tri-Service General Hospital Penghu’s branch said that National Airborne Service Corps’ helicopters, commercial airlines, and commercial helicopters are the only means of transporting patients to Taiwan.

Tri-Service General Hospital doctors said that baby Gan’s retinal condition was deteriorating and that she also developed symptoms of respiratory illnesses, prompting them to send her to Taipei, where she can be treated at a better facility.

Gan was prematurely born at the twenty-forth week of her mother’s pregnancy and suffered twenty-four diseases and poor kidney functioning.

Gan’s case marks the first time that a military transport plane has transported a patient from Penghu to Taipei.

DOH said, however, that Gan’s transportation to Taipei represents a special case and that future Penghu patients will still be directed to Kaohsiung as the priority location.

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