Imagine yourself in a scenario where you’re severely injured and alone in a remote region of an unfamiliar foreign country tucked away in some corner of the world. Your network of family and friends are all millions of miles away while you’re desperately in need of medical care. In such a situation, an air ambulance could make all the difference in getting you home safe and sound.
At its most basic level, an air ambulance provides medevac services for patients in serious condition and require transportation back to their home country for urgent medical attention. Once you are determined to be in serious enough condition for a medical evacuation, you’ll be transferred aboard the best air ambulance service. Here’s what you can anticipate will happen:
Emergency treatment
Just like in a hospital, the air ambulance is configured like an ICU—with experienced physicians and nurses who are current in their medical know-how. These medical professionals undergo a mandatory training regimen, making for top-notch care with the latest medical techniques and equipment available.
Onboard, you can expect the air ambulance to come equipped with a full range of state-of-the-art, portable medical equipment that includes intubation kits, defibrillators, transport monitors, a neonatal transport incubator with a built-in ventilator—just to name a few. All this comes into play in a perfect continuation of the first-aid treatment you might have been receiving on-site, stabilizing your condition before sending you off to the hospital of your choice for further treatment.
A team to help manage your journey
The air ambulance team assigned to you will help monitor your health condition at all times. They will manage all the information regarding your state of health and medical history from the pick-up time to the drop-off at the receiving facility.
The team will handle all aspects of your international travel—working with foreign customs and consulates to arrange ground transportation for evacuation to and from facilities—all in your stead. They will also keep a record of the medical devices and resources used for your treatment, your hospital reports, insurance coverage documents and even facilitate the hospital admission process on your behalf. Staying with you for the entire journey, the team will brief the receiving medical team and get them up-to-date on your condition.
Safe flight
With an experienced flight crew at the helm, there’s no need to worry too much about flight safety. Most air ambulance pilots have clocked in thousands of hours of flight hours, going through extensive training annually and ongoing training every six months. Practicing a safety-first policy for all crew members, each pilot is often required to participate in a risk assessment analysis prior to every flight. The best pilots tend to have hands-on experience in assisting the medical escorts, meeting and exceeding CASA training requirements.
When preparing yourself or a loved one to board a medical transport flight, make sure to have your passports and applicable VISAs with you. You’ll have to decide on the date of the medical transfer, the receiving physician of your choice as well as the destination of the medical facility. Any medical evacuation flight can usually be scheduled within the day of the initial phone call.
