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Perhaps you’re enjoying the powdery white sand beaches of Bora Bora. When you’re not on the beach, you’re cozily tucked away in your floating lagoon villa. Just imagining it should make you sigh in satisfaction.
Not to burst your bubble, but accidents and illness happen even in paradise. And when they do strike — especially when you’re in an exclusive, secluded getaway — you’d better be prepared.
Read on to have all of your air medical transport questions answered.
When Do You Use Air Medical Transport?
Typically, one uses air medical transport to transfer a patient from one hospital to another hospital. For instance, if a patient needs urgent heart surgery, the primary care facility might recommend airlifting the patient to a big city hospital with a fully staffed cardiothoracic surgery department.
But even if you’re somewhere remote, an air ambulance 1 is not the default medical transport. Besides, you need to establish the extent and urgency of the injury or sickness.
While everything can seem like an emergency when you or your loved one is in pain, the primary step should always be first aid, followed by an assessment. And for this step, it is best to have the patient seen by a doctor. The doctor can decide whether a medical evacuation is necessary.
In general, these are the considerations for deciding whether to call an air ambulance for medical transport:
Treatment Onsite
Is there competent medical staff onsite to treat the patient? Are the necessary medical equipment supplies and medications available? If the answer is ‘yes’ to both questions, the patient wouldn’t require medical evacuation.
Accessibility and Capacity
Even if treatment onsite is not possible, one must still weigh the need for air medical transport with the site accessibility. If there is nowhere suitable for a helicopter or aircraft to land to get the patient, do not waste time trying to hail an air ambulance. You will be much better off arranging other modes of transportation.
Time Criticality
If the injury or ailment requires that the patient receive medical attention at a well-equipped tertiary care facility, the next step involves assessing how dangerous it will be for the patient to get delayed care.
After first aid, will saving a few minutes or a few hours on the trip to the hospital make a difference?
If time is a critical factor; if a few minutes spells the difference between significant loss of function (or even death) and complete restoration to good health, air medical transport may be the best option for medical evacuation.
Do not neglect to include your wait time in your calculation of time savings. Any medical air transport vehicle will need time to get to the rendezvous point.
Who Should You Contact If You Need Air Ambulance Transport?
Typically, the doctor or the medics on the ground will call in an air ambulance. At the very least, the hotel or resort where you’re staying should be able to make the call for you during an emergency. They should have a ready list of air medical transport providers that serve the area.
If You Have Medical Insurance
Call your insurance liaison officer to ask about air ambulance cover. Insurance cover for air medical transport is usually available only for medical emergencies.
If you have air ambulance cover, ask your insurance company about their SOP for procuring the service. Some insurance companies have concierge services, and they will gladly make the arrangements for you.
Note that your insurance company may have prescribed SOPs for obtaining air ambulance support, and they may be a necessary condition of cover. Thus, you must contact your insurance provider first in case you need medevac.
If Your Credit Card Offers It as a Perk
Some credit card companies offer air ambulance transport with particular credit card products. If your credit card company offers this perk, call your credit card company concierge for the details and how to make medical air transport arrangements.
Note that your credit card company may have prescribed SOPs for obtaining air ambulance support, and they may be a necessary condition of cover. It is essential to contact your credit card company’s concierge service to make arrangements.
Google Your Options
If there is no other source of information on medical evacuation services, your last resort would be to search the internet for nearby air transport services.
What Are the Types of Air Medical Transport?
There are essentially two types of air medical transport: the helicopter and the fixed-wing aircraft. Both types are outfitted with medical equipment and staffed by medics.
Helicopter Ambulance
Helicopter medical transport transfers critically ill patients. It is especially suited to shorter-distance hops and for picking up patients from remote and inaccessible places.
Fixed-wing Airplane Ambulance
A fixed-wing airplane ambulance is suited to medical evacuations from one city to another, and for transport across state borders. Typically, airplane ambulances can take off only on runways, although seaplane ambulances can take off and land on water.
How Much Does Air Medical Transport Cost?
Air medical transport costs vary depending on location. In general, however, air ambulances can be pretty expensive.
Airlift to a hospital can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Several factors determine the cost of a medical airlift, such as pick-up and destination locations. The farther one must travel on an air medical transport vehicle, the higher the bill would be.
Who Pays for Air Medical Transport?
If you have medical insurance that includes medical airlift cover, your insurance company will pay for the air ambulance service up to the amount indicated in your insurance contract.
Likewise, suppose you are lucky enough to have a credit card that has free air ambulance cover. In that case, your credit card company may shoulder the cost of your medical evacuation up to the amount named in your credit card agreement.
However, in either case, the insurance or credit card company may have prescribed procedures for those who wish to use their free air ambulance benefit. For this reason, you need to contact your insurance company or your credit card company before you obtain air medical transport.
Unfortunately, if your insurance policy or credit card does not include medevac benefits, you will have to pay for the air medical transport bill yourself.
Judicious Use of Medical Air Transport
Air medical transport serves a crucial purpose, but it’s not always appropriate for all medical situations.
Call an air ambulance after a doctor or medic who has seen the patient on the ground prescribes air medical transport as necessary and critical.
