Life Flight

IMPORTANT NOTE: LIFEFLIGHT PANAMA HAS CEASED OPERATIONS.

 Once in a while we have helicopters in Valle Escondido.   One of our neighbors who is developing his own project at Boquete Country Club used to fly in, now he just goes into his own development.  We’ve had celebrities – Sam’s “poker buddy” Mel Gibson (only it’s Brad and Marc playing poker with Mel in the photo)  - and others who occasionally drop in . . . but this was no ordinary helicopter.

This was Life Flight 1 and was in Boquete to introduce a new emergency medivac service.   The helicopter is based in Panama City, so it takes 2 hours to get to Boquete, but the plan is to add another machine in David . . . about 15 minutes flying time from Boquete, and to eventually have four Life Flight choppers in service. 

Right now if you had an emergency you would be transported by car or ambulance to a hospital in David, and then once stabilized, the Life Flight service could be used to transport you to Panama City if you needed attention not readily available in David.

The helicopter is equipped with the most modern portable ER equipment, probably better equipped than many hospitals in Panama.  Life Flight claims they can be airborne in 3 minutes and the helicopter travels with a physician with special trauma training and an EMT.  The chopper is equipped with inflatable pontoons that enable it to land on water as well as land.  It is available for ship evacuation as well.

The plan is that the next helicopter will be bigger and have an exterior hoist that can lower an EMT to the site of a crash and hoist a patient on board.

Subscription is $204 for a family which gives you a priority.  If you have insurance Life Flight will go after your insurance company, or, if you do not have insurance, they will take care of you. 

International Living Considers Panama “Fourth”

According to LA PRENSA:

Panama lost its ranking as the world’s top retirement “haven”—a term more commonly heard in conjunction with the word “tax” when the subject is Panama—about a year ago, according to an International Living report entitled The World’s Top Retirement Havens, published in 2007.

Panama now ranks fourth, behind Mexico, Ecuador and Italy.

Why the demotion? International Living points out that unless you can afford “a $40,000 investment in a forestry project or a $200,000 investment in real estate or a government bank CD” you’re going to have a hard time getting a resident visa . . . International Living gives considerable weight to real estate prices, the cost of living, safety, and infrastructure. Real estate prices have soared, the cost of living has increased, crime is on the rise and it is widely acknowledged that the country’s infrastructure, including roads and bridges and water and sewer systems, is inadequate.

Panama’s fourth-place ranking notwithstanding, International Living’s appetite for selling Panama has hardly diminished. The company will hold a conference on living in the country at the Intercontinental Playa Bonita Resort and Spa from July 31 to Aug. 2. The discounted price per person for subscribers to International Living magazine is $945.

Panama promoter, Sam Taliafero, has his own take on the article . . .

. . . here in Panama it is as if the local press is just realizing that Panama is no longer perceived as such a great place to retire. What has happened? The local people are just as friendly and there are more air flights available to bring in the baby boomers. The countryside is still just as beautiful and the weather warm and tropical. What has changed? Although many woulod say land prices are the reason, there are still bargains to be had all over the country. The fact is that the government has made some major blunders in tax and immigration laws that have not gone unnoticed by those looking to retire in warmer climes.

Take a look at these videos, then come down and check out Panama and make your own decision!

Video . . .

This is a promo video for a project in Boquete, but it gives a nice look at life in Boquete and if you’ve never actually been here, you might enjoy taking a look . . .

And here’s one on the Valle Escondido Resort . . . which is where we currently live and where we have a lovely home overlooking the river and the golf course that is for sale!

And after my rant about rotten lemons . . .

Someone asked to see a picture of what Romero’s market in Boquete looks like . . . Sorry about all the rum, but that’s a “best seller” to locals on pay day.

And, finally, THANK YOU!

Yesterday we blew past 30,000 visitors in 10 months, and we’re now averaging over 6,000 visitors a month . . . and when I started I wasn’t sure anyone would read anything! Thank you! I’m a long way from John Heald’s blog (What the hell, give him a few more visitors – he’s Carnival’s Senior Cruise Director and often fixated on his bladder and bowel habits but fun to read none-the-less) where they get 50,000 visitors a day (!!), but getting to know 30,000 of you in some way is a real privilege. So to those of you who visit regularly, who’ve sent in comments, emailed me, called or who I’ve bumped into in Boquete: THANK YOU!!

July 13th I added this little world map thingy on the bottom of the right hand border that shows where you all are from.  Just click on the map for an enlarged view.  Amazing: the Americas, India, Asia, the Middle East, Europe – it truly is a World Wide Web.  So wherever you are in the world, thank you and I look forward to visiting you or having you visit Panama!