Raise Your MUG!


West Flanders’ Airborne Lifesaver S


ome emergency services are defined by their equipment.


Others are defined by the lives they save. The MUG (Mobiele Urgentiegroep — Mobile Emergency Group) helicopter of West Flanders combines both. Operating out of the city of Bruges from a single helipad on the roof of AZ Sint-Jan hospital, this one aircraft functions as an airborne emergency medical unit for an entire Belgian province — and sometimes


Article & Photos by Kris Christiaens


well beyond that border. In 2025, it crossed a milestone that had never been reached be in its nearly four decades of uninterrupted service: 1,000 medical interventions in a calendar year. That number, achieved on December 6, is not merely a statistic. It represents 1,000 moments when a critically ill or injured person received advanced medical care faster than any road vehicle could have delivered it.


rotorpro.com


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