Air ambulance

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An air ambulance is an aircraft (often a helicopter) that is used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a road ambulance cannot easily or quickly reach the scene or the patient needs to be repositioned at a distance where air transportation is most practical. Air ambulance crews are supplied with equipment that enables them to provide medical treatment to a critically injured or ill patient. Common equipment for air ambulances includes respirators, medication, an ECG and monitoring unit, CPR equipment, and stretchers.

1 Ambulance Crew and Passengers
2 History
3 Cost
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Ambulance Crew and Passengers

The medical crew of an air ambulance normally consists of one or more paramedics, sometimes a flight nurse, or in rare instances, a physician. The staffing of the medical crew depends on the needs of the mission as well as the regional structure of the emergency medical assistance network.

The London Air Ambulance is an MD-902 helicopter.

Air ambulance pilots are required to have a great deal of experience in piloting their aircraft because the conditions of air ambulance flights are often more challenging than regular non-emergency flight services.

Depending on the equipment, crew composition, and condition of the patient, there is sometimes room for one passenger. Space is very limited, so friends and family often must follow the air ambulance by commercial air travel if necessary.

[edit] History

Image:Danish Red Cross plain.jpg

1928 - The first air ambulance service was established in the Australian outback. This organisation became the Royal Flying Doctor Service
1946 - The first civilian air ambulance in North America was established by the Saskatchewan government in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada - this service is still in operation in 2006.
1947 - Schaefer Air Service, the first air ambulance service in the United States, was founded by J. Walter Schaefer of Schaefer Ambulance Service in Los Angeles, California. Schaefer Air Service is also the first FAA-certified air ambulance service in the U.S.

[edit] Cost

In the United States publicly owned air ambulance service is provided by the US Coast Guard and other agencies in certain areas, usually at no direct cost to the individual; public air ambulance transport is usually by helicopter and involves shorter distances than privately owned air ambulance jets.^{[citation needed]}

A Beech KingAir of the Australian Royal Flying Doctor Service.

In the UK the service operates in two distinct manners. In Scotland the national assembly agreed to the state funding of the service however in England and Wales the service is funded on a charitable basis via a number of local charities for each region covered. A list of these can be found here: [1]

Every year an Air Ambulance Show is held in the Czech Republic.