June 22, 2015

Uses of Air Medical Services

by brcwyngthm in Blog

plane

Air Medical Services are used to remove injured people from accident scenes, from inaccessible places, such as mountain tops, and to transport patients from community hospitals to trauma centers. Air Medical Transport is the fastest method of transporting critically ill patients, and requires a specialized crew. Medical personnel have extra training that allows them to provide care while in transport. There is also a flight coordinator that handles medical records and all arrangements so that emergency care is ready when the patient lands. Not all Air Medical Services are exclusive to emergencies, there are other reasons air services are necessary. Long distance medical transport services provide bedside to bedside transport for elderly patients or patients with heart conditions that can become critical during travel. Standard equipment on medical transports include medications, stretchers, ventilators, CPR equipment, and heart monitoring machinery. Air Ambulance New York, for example, can be utilized to transport a patient with a traumatic brain injury from New York City to Buffalo for specialized treatment. New York Medical Transport does not necessarily mean air transportation. It can mean ground transport by ambulance is the safety and health of the patient are not compromised. A medical team would be there for emergencies, but if it is possible, ground transportation is more cost-effective. Most insurances will cover ground transport, but will only cover air transport with pre-authorization. There are some flights that are funded by large corporations or public donations, which may be utilized if the need is great. A hospital social worker can help with those details if a medical transport is needed for critical care. Air flights are also utilized for medical escorts, organ transplant flights, oncology medical flights, pediatric air ambulance flights, and illness transports. If a patient cannot travel safely by ambulance, then a flight will be deemed necessary. Many companies have different air transports, so medical personnel decides what type of plane is used for which flights. A small helicopter may be sufficient to get a donated organ to its destination. Bigger jets may be dispatched in the case of a natural disaster, an explosion, or a train collision. Several air ambulances may be sent out if there are many injured people.