Makoto Kobayashi, Emergency Physician An air ambulance service uses helicopters to rush doctors to the scene of medical emergencies. Makoto Kobayashi, leader of an emergency medicine team at a hospital in Hyogo Prefecture, makes 1,900 air ambulance flights per year, more than any other doctor in Japan. His vision for emergency medicine is that it be a "vital cog in the community". The air ambulance provides peace of mind in a rural region where it would take a road ambulance an hour to reach some communities