Non-Emergency Air Ambulance Services
Most people know of air ambulance services by the work those in the helicopter industry do. Typically an air ambulance pops up in your mind as a helicopter rescuing a car accident victim and transporting the patient to the hospital. You may also see stories of people in remote areas, or trapped by flooding being lifted out by a helicopter air ambulance. While those are the commonly covered situations that our industry is used, it is far from the most common way we help people in need.
At Travel Care Air, we specialize in non-emergency air ambulance services. That means we serve people that need an air ambulance, but not immediately. While a few people who request our service do have time constraints, the vast majority are in non-emergency situations.
So what are non-emergency situations? Basically our air ambulance services are used when people need to fly somewhere, but it’s not a life and death matter. It’s a non-emergency flight that is used for a variety of reasons. That’s not to say their medical needs aren’t commonly urgent. We have flown many transplant patients in need of an organ to save their life, for example, however when we talk about non-emergency, we try to differentiate from the car accident images people most-identify us with.
Travel Care Air is a 24/7/365 company. Our air ambulance services are ready for you at a moment’s notice. However in non-emergency matters, you, or your family has much more time to plan. A person may be receiving care in the hospital, for example, in another country and want to come home to receive better treatment. In this non-emergency situation the family will contact us and we will plan, usually over a few days, the logistics of the flight. We will learn patient information, go over flight options and discuss insurance and payment.
Payment discussion for non-emergency air ambulance services is an important aspect of the service. A lot of bad press exists about our industry hiking up bills. Typically those are in life and death matters, when the patient doesn’t have a lot of say in how he or she is transported to the hospital. In non-emergency circumstances, however, the patient or family has more time to shop around, to make sure their getting the most for their money. In some cases insurance may cover part or all of the service, and our staff will work with you to find out that information.
Sometimes people want to travel, or need to travel, but need medical help. This is another important way that our air ambulance services are used in a non-emergency situation. In the past we have helped people close to the end of their life travel to a location special to them. In other situations we have flown elderly family members who need medical care to their destination, where they are cared for by younger members of their family. Typically these trips can take anywhere from days to weeks to plan, finding the perfect time to fly to reach the destination is a top priority, as is the patient’s needs. Often other family members will travel with us, so we work to coordinate everyone’s schedule.
In non-emergency situations commercial air ambulance services are the most popular way we help our clients. Most people prefer to take a commercial flight that is equipped with medical devices the person needs, and one of our nurses who can help the patient with medicine or treatment during the flight. Commercial flights are also more affordable than private options, where we use one of our jets to fly the person solo, or with family.
If you need air ambulance services and have time to plan, we would love to talk to you. Whether you need us in a few days, weeks, or months it’s always a good idea to plan as soon as possible. Travel Care Air will work with you in a professional, personal manner every step of the way. For more information about our air ambulance services please follow us on Twitter.