Air Ambulances: Flying on Life Support
It is something none of us hope to face: seeing a loved one critically ill in ICU. It’s even worse when this happens while abroad in an unfamiliar environment where healthcare standards might be different from the ones back home. When a life is in the balance, you want to know the patient is receiving the best possible care and is surrounded by loved ones. Most people would want to bring their loved one home. It might seem impossible to move someone on life support. But EMS’s air ambulance services make the impossible, possible.
Flying on Life Support
When a patient’s condition is critical and they are on life support, moving them requires specialist transport, even over short distances, let alone when the journey home involves crossing continents.
Medical repatriation companies like EMS Air Ambulance & Medical Repatriation specialise in worldwide patient transportation by road and by air ambulance. Although travel by road ambulance is possibly the most comfortable way for a patient to travel, it is not always possible when the journey home covers extreme distances and even crosses an ocean. In such cases, a repatriation by private air ambulance is the best option.
Inside a Private Air Ambulance
In essence, an air ambulance is a private aeroplane or helicopter that has been specially modified to enable medical care for a patient while in transit. EMS Air Ambulance & Medical Repatriation uses a network of high quality private aircraft across the world, each of which has been furnished with their own ICU environment with all the latest equipment and life-saving technology. They provide more space for the patient and the medical team than they would have on a commercial flight, giving better access for treatments or procedures.
The patient is accompanied by a team of qualified experts who can provide emergency care during the flight if necessary. Depending on the situation, it is sometimes possible for a family member to join the patient on the flight, but only if it is medically safe. The patient’s needs always come first.
Our Air Ambulance Service – What’s involved?
When someone makes contact with us, we listen to them and make sure we understand their situation. This helps us to determine which kind of repatriation is best in their case. If a repatriation by air ambulance is the right thing for them, we take care of the entire process from one hospital bed to the other. We liaise with the doctors on both ends and carry out our own medical assessment to ensure the patient is fit-to-fly. We arrange transportation to and from the airport and schedule refueling stops along the way
During the journey, we keep in touch with family and friends and keep them updated at every stage of the repatriation. We take care of all the necessary paperwork and admit the patient into their new hospital. We only leave once we’re confident the patient is settled and the hand-off has been successful.
If you think you might require our air ambulance services, or if you have any questions about medical repatriation in general, please don’t hesitate to contact us via phone at +44 20 3514 6797, email at info@ems-ambulance.com, text or WhatsApp to discuss your situation with us.