Who’s working on your medical transport?
Transporting a sick patient from one country to another is a complex process. We sometimes liken it to the workings of a fine Swiss watch – everything moves smoothly on the surface, but there’s a lot of carefully-calibrated activity happening underneath!
Once you give EMS Air Ambulance & Medical Repatriation the green light to go ahead with the transport, a multi-disciplinary team clicks into gear to make sure your patient gets swiftly, comfortably and safely to their destination. Here’s what that looks like on the ground.
Repatriation Specialist
If you call or request a free video call with EMS, the first person you’ll speak to is a Repatriation Specialist. They’re the heartbeat of our Operations Office (“Ops”). They can answer all your questions and concerns about the repatriation process. They’ll send you price estimates and full quotations for your journey. Once you greenlight the transport, they also arrange the logistics: route plans, flights, tickets, permits and hospital bed arrangements, among many other things. They’re available 24 hours a day, wherever you are in the world.
Keep reading… I’m about to contact you: what details will EMS need from me?
Case Supervisor
Every transport has its own Case Supervisor. This person will act as your single point of contact, wherever possible, during the journey. They’ll study your patient’s medical notes, oversee the transport as it proceeds, and keep you updated on progress. You can contact them with questions if you need to. The Case Supervisor has a medical background, often with a particular specialism – Operational Manager Nabil Mani, for example, is a cardiology specialist.
Keep reading… Meet the people on the EMS Air Ambulance & Medical Repatriation management team
Medical Crew
The Medical Crew is, obviously, the lynchpin of your patient’s care during the transport. The make-up of the crew will depend on the type of transport you’ve ordered. For a Medical Escort, for example, it could be a nurse and paramedic. On an Air Ambulance, it might be a doctor, an aviation medicine specialist, a critical care expert, or a team with different combinations. We also tailor crews, of course, to individual medical needs – for instance, our chief flight nurse is a paediatric specialist who usually takes charge of our air ambulance transports for babies and young children.
Keep reading… The top 5 questions about air ambulance flights
Doctor-on-Call
Behind the scenes, your transport also has access to a Doctor-on-Call. This is an experienced doctor who provides round-the-clock telephone support to Ops as they complete your patient’s medical intake, and to the ambulance team as they carry out the transport. They can advise on repatriation planning and give specialist advice and recommendations to the crew if it’s needed. They often also act as the first point of contact for the local and destination hospitals, liaising with the clinical staff to make sure everything goes smoothly on collection and handover.
Keep reading… Why we provide a doctor-on-call for every transport
Drivers and Pilots
The final cog in the repatriation machine is your transport team. For airport transfers, we assign a professional ambulance driver to transport your patient and their medical team – or a pair of drivers if they’re travelling all the way by road over a long distance (our road ambulances are capable of travelling 4,000km or more if needed). We have our own fleet of ambulances in Europe, and access to a wide pool of expert drivers. The private air ambulance jets we use have some of the most highly-trained airline crews in international travel. They are aircraft-specific pilots who have undergone training through an advanced qualification programme – which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) describes as “the highest possible standard of individual and crew performance.” You won’t find a better-placed crew to see your patient quickly and securely to their destination.
Keep reading… Find out more about our air ambulance jets
Contact us
Do you need any advice about how repatriation works and how EMS Air Ambulance & Medical Repatriation can help you? Give our team a call any time, day or night, and we’ll be really pleased to answer your questions. If you’re looking into pricing and need to know more, hop over to our easy-to-use cost calculator.