By Hani Masgidi
International Air Ambulance
The method of transporting the wounded and sick patients by air to a hospital started even from the World War era. The type of air transportation evolved from very simple to highly equipped air ambulance. When it first started, the air ambulance can only carry limited passenger, limited facilities and not flexible to various landing pads. Nowadays, most of the air ambulance are very flexible and can carry large weights. This method of transportation is commonly called as EMS helicopters. Many US and European countries have EMS helicopters. Currently, US and Germany have the most number of service operators.
 

Most providers operate 24/7 across country or international. The hospital or the patient’s family will contact the air ambulance provider and the flight coordinator then plans out the schedule and the necessary medical needs during the air transfer.
 Most of the air ambulance is equipped with the latest medical equipments. The operations center decides on the type of air transport based on the destination and medical needs of the patient. Lear jets are the most widely used air transport because of its flight comfort and reliability and they are more appropriate for longer distance travel.
 

There is a lot of coordination and planning involved between the operation center and the hospital. The medical history will be reviewed and a medical briefing is being performed. The air ambulance package also comes with highly trained nurses and physicians who will take care of the patient during transport.
 Here is a checklist to help you pick the right air ambulance provider:
 

1)     Confirm if the accompanying nurse is flight trained.
This is important as a highly trained personnel is necessary incase there are emergencies during the duration of the flight.
2)     Check what are the personal comfort items that they provide.
This is a way of checking how far the operator goes for the patient’s comfort.
 

3)     Availability of emergency drugs and medicines on board.
This will be important incase of emergency or any hiccup during the flight.
 4)     Check if medical oxygen is supplied.
 

5)     Check the type of medical equipments available on board.
 Different providers have different types of equipments. The basics are off course pretty much the same but do check what other high technology equipments are available in the air ambulance.
 

Talking about billing, many providers are now partnering with the medical billing service companies to make the process less complex. This is a form of outsource service for the air ambulance providers. The billing involves many procedures and if the medical service companies can take care of it, the air ambulance will be able to focus more on their job.
 With air ambulance, the transfer of the patient from one place to the other may it be cross-country or international, is much more faster. And this means more lives can be saved. The cost is still considered expensive especially to longer destinations but there are circumstances that really require the services of the air ambulance. And when a person’s life is at stake, cost will be secondary.