Less than five minutes later the patient is being prepared for surgery in the operating theater on the 23rd floor.

That was the scene of a recent maneuver at the Second People's Hospital of Shenzhen City, in south China's Guangdong Province, when a helicopter was used to save a life.

Shenzhen has become China's first city capable of offering an air ambulance service to seriously ill patients.

Zhou Qiang, head of the task control office of the Shenzhen First Aid Center, said the service was offered by a local company which boasted about 20 helicopters for the purpose.

The air ambulance was available to all residents of the city, as long as the weather permits, on the emergency phone number 120, said Zhou.

The service is available around the clock and will be charged according to time and type of helicopter used, with the average cost estimated at 30,000 yuan (3,614 US dollars) to 50,000 yuan (6,024 US dollars) per hour.

(Xinhua News Agency July 12, 2002)