Medical Air Transport
When patients are medically stable and the expense of a private air ambulance is not a necessity, Air Ambulance Worldwide can provide our Commercial Medical Escort service. Typically these patients require oxygen, basic monitoring, administration of medications and basic hygiene assistance. Air Ambulance Worldwide has open working relationships with all airline medical desks helping to expedite medical and oxygen approval for our flights. With the security issues and new airport restrictions our medical escort personnel provide the medical and personal support that the patient needs to navigate through today’s airports. Our medical escort personnel accompany the patient every step of the way. This medical flight escort service costs thousands less than a private air ambulance and could be exactly right for you and your family.
Air Ambulance Worldwide
will provide, arrange and coordinate the entire Medical Escort Service:
- Obtain medical clearance through the airline’s medical help desk
- Booking of tickets for the medical escort patient and any family members traveling
- Arrange and provide all ground transportation
- Priority boarding and seating arrangements
- Aeromedically trained personnel to monitor and care for the patient
- Coordinate the entire transfer and update the family as it progresses
Please call one of Air Ambulance Worldwide flight coordinators to see if this service meets your patient’s needs and they qualify for this cost saving option.
Accompanying the Patient
Family members or companions are welcome and encouraged to accompany the patient throughout our commercial medical escort transfers. The family member has the choice to sit in first class with our nurse and patient, or may sit in economy for a more cost effective method of traveling. The family member may choose to have Air Ambulance Worldwide take care of the arrangements for their travel with the patient, or we may provide the family with the appropriate information for them to make their own travel arrangements.
Use of Oxygen
Supplemental oxygen may be necessary throughout a patient’s medical transfer. Air Ambulance Worldwide owns several Inogen One Portable Oxygen Concentrators. The Inogen One Oxygen Concentrator is a small machine that is FAA approved and allowed on board many domestic and international airlines. This device is battery operated and takes in room air that is concentrated into medical oxygen. The machine is on wheels and travels with the medical escort staff and patient very easily. The Inogen One can supply from 1 to 5 LPM. We are able to call the airline medical desks directly and many times are able to have the oxygen approval for the Inogen One Concentrator within hours.
The use of this portable concentrator enables us to maintain the patient’s appropriate oxygen saturation levels with ease, as well as reduce the cost for our clients, in both man hours and actual cost.
If we are unable to use the Inogen One Concentrator on board a particular airline, we are able to arrange oxygen bottles to be onboard for in-flight use. Pre-approval by the airline’s medical department will require 48-72 hours notice for arrangements to be made.
The Medical Escort Transfer Process:
Our medical escort service is a complete bed to bed service. Not only will we provide exceptional medical care, but our medical staff goes above and beyond to make sure the flight transitions with ease and that the patient and companion are transferred with comfort and respect. The following are examples of what Air Ambulance Worldwide will provide, monitor and coordinate:
- When necessary, obtain a visa for country of origin rapidly, if we do not hold an existing visa
- Prior to departing for the medical escort transfer we will obtain a full medical report
- Booking of airline tickets for the patient and any family members traveling
- Upon arrival into city of origin, the nurse will visit the patient to do an additional assessment and report any changes, if any
- If there is a traveling companion, we will arrange for our nurse to stay in the same hotel as the companion to help with their travel needs as well as comfort. If there is no companion, we will stay as close to the hospital as possible.
- Nurse calls Air Ambulance Worldwide at each transition point of the medical transfer ie. Upon arrival into origin, after initial assessment, arrival and departure at airport for each layover, etc.
- Ground transportation on each end, fit for each patient ie. Ground ambulance, wheelchair van, town car, limo
- Arrange wheelchair assistance within each airport
- Help to bypass luggage screening lines / security and head directly to the front of the line for personal attention accompanied by airline personnel
- Assures the patient and companion to be first on the aircraft
- Can have the companion seating arranged as closely to first class if so desired
- May assist companion with needs, such as upgrading if they so desire
- We can arrange approval for our Inogen One Oxygen Concentrator on majority of airlines within hours (own several Inogen One Portable Oxygen Concentrators)
- Air Ambulance Worldwide staff helps to arrange a receiving facility if necessary
- Air Ambulance Worldwide staff will keep any family members updated throughout the medical transfer process
International Travel
Our aeromedically trained medical staff are trained to not only assist our patients medically, but to help relieve the anxiety from dealing with today’s airports. Our medical director is fluent in Spanish and several of our medical staff are bilingual in Spanish, Turkish and Dutch. Our flight nurses hold several annual visas including Russia, China and India among others.