What is Medical Repatriation?
Medical repatriation is transporting a person who becomes ill or injured in another country back to their country of origin.
The difference between a medical evacuation and medical repatriation is that medical evacuation involves transporting a patient needing critical care to the closest appropriate medical facility, whereas medical repatriation refers to when the patient is transported back to their home country for treatment.
Medical repatriation can be required because specialty treatment isn’t available locally, or because the patient wishes to avoid substantial medical debt because their healthcare insurance isn’t accepted in the country to which they’ve traveled.
Many countries require payment of all medical services up front. In other cases, the patient may receive emergency treatment locally, but must be transported back to their home country for recovery, rehabilitation, and follow up. For whatever reason you or a loved one need medical repatriation, Air Ambulance Worldwide is here to help.
How Does Medical Repatriation Work?
Depending on the condition of the patient, there are several options for medical repatriation, including air ambulance service, medical escort service on a commercial flight, or stretcher service on a commercial flight.
Typically, the patient must be medically stable enough to be transported, and continuation of care between the discharging and receiving facilities must be carefully coordinated, often through language barriers, customs, necessary medical equipment configurations and other logistics.
That’s where Air Ambulance Worldwide comes in. When you place a call to one of our medical repatriation specialists, they will mobilize a team that will handle every detail of your flight.
They will work swiftly and diligently to find the safest and most cost-effective medical repatriation flight option for you. Our medical staff includes members who are fluent in many languages, and many of our flight nurses hold annual visas for India, and China, among other nations. Our team is available 24/7 and will work with you to determine the quickest and safest option to suit your needs. They will help coordinate:
- Bed-to-bed service from the transferring facility to the destination facility, updating family members and loved ones along the way
- Ground ambulance service between medical facilities and airports
- Experienced pilots specifically trained in air ambulance flying
- A seasoned medical team, each with years of ICU/CCU experience, specifically configured to the needs of the patient
- All logistics as well as help maximizing your insurance coverage
Safe Medical Repatriation to Your Home Country
We own and maintain our own fleet of specially equipped aircraft that can be configured to provide care for almost any medical condition – including in-flight ECMO services.
Our aircraft are equipped with medical equipment tailored to each patient’s needs and are flown by experienced pilots with thousands of hours flown and who specialize in medical repatriation and trauma flight operations.
Our spotless safety record has earned us both an ARGUS Gold safety rating as well as EURAMI accreditation, which is only given to mobile air service providers that comply with stringent medical protocols and have exceptional safety records. We also provide medical escorts and stretcher service on commercial flights.
Specialty Care on Medical Repatriation Flights
We have the expertise and experience to provide almost any level of care on a flight, from intensive care on one of our specialty aircraft to medical escorts on commercial. Our dedicated, full-time team of medical experts includes emergency physicians, trauma specialists, paramedics, and nurses who have decades of experience and are trained handle the most advanced levels of medical care during transport. All members of our medical team have years of ICU/CCU or ER experience, so we can staff your medical repatriation flight to accommodate your specific medical needs.
Medical Repatriation Flight Costs
We will do our absolute best to find the most cost-effective solution for your specific needs. Each Air Ambulance Worldwide medical repatriation flight is individually quoted, and costs depend on several factors, including the level of care the patient needs, the distance to be traveled, and the current location of our airplanes. Our dedicated Air Ambulance Medical Repatriation Flight Specialists will work with you and your specific situation to generate a flight quote that is as competitive as possible.
Air Ambulance Worldwide has representatives available 24/7, 7 days a week. Call today for your custom medical repatriation flight quote.