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Blog

29 November 2021

Why use an air ambulance?

People don’t expect to be taken ill or injured when travelling abroad, but if they are their condition may well require repatriation by air ambulance. UK citizens can rely on us at IAS Medical to provide their loved ones with the medical care and support they need, should they require transport home for hospital treatment.

There are many benefits to using a private chartered air ambulance. UK companies such as us at IAS Medical offer a round-the-clock bed-to-bed service 365 days a year, so no matter how out-of-season your travel arrangements are, you know you will be expertly cared for. All flights are managed by a UK-based multilingual medical team, who track each flight and keep you and your family updated at every stage.

Air ambulances are fitted out as mobile ICUs, with generally two flight crew and at least one doctor and nurse or paramedic. Highly experienced and aero-medically, they have access to all the medical equipment and pharmacy supplies they need to deal with any clinical situation, no matter how life-threatening. Whether they have paid privately or used travel insurance for their air ambulance, UK patients get the benefit of a medical co-ordinator whose job it is to arrange hospital departures and admissions, door-to-door ground ambulance transfers, and retrieval of medical notes.

However, we don’t just offer medical repatriation by air ambulance to UK destinations – or even just UK travellers. With air ambulances strategically positioned throughout the UK and Europe, we can respond rapidly to any repatriation request, with powerful Lear Jets for international destinations such as Australia, Africa and the USA.

Medical repatriation isn’t the only use for an air ambulance. For UK transplant teams, we at IAS Medical offer a vital service, transporting patients by chartered air ambulance for lifesaving surgery in UK, Ireland and international hospitals. As an approved supplier of aviation services to NHSBT (NHS Blood and Transplant) and UKTFT (UK Transportation for Transplant), we also offer surgical team transport; we even transport donor organs, blood and tissue.

How is this calculated?

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Overview

If you need to arrange medical transport, the last thing you should be worrying about is money, so here at IAS Medical we offer all-inclusive prices to help you understand exactly what to expect. The cost of an air ambulance will depend on your individual circumstances, with prices depending on the following factors:

  • The patient’s location and the distance they need to travel
  • The type of aircraft needed
  • The number of medical staff required
  • The airport landing fees
  • The journey required by ground ambulance

The cost of medical crew

The overall cost of booking an air ambulance depends on various factors, including the number of medical staff required and the expertise needed to support the patient’s medical needs.

As an indication of how this affects the overall cost of an air ambulance, the cost of recruiting medical experts is as follows:

  • Flight Surgeons: £700 per day
  • Doctors: £700 per day
  • Nurses: £350 per day
  • Paramedics: £350 per day

The cost of our aircraft

Prices will depend on the type of aircraft you need to book, according to the clinical needs of the patient, the size of aircraft required and the equipment needed on board. Prices will also vary depending on how many people would like to accompany the patient on their journey, although this may not be possible depending on the patient’s medical condition.

For non-serious cases, there is often a choice of aircraft, in which case we will use the most cost-effective aircraft available.

The cost of airport landing fees

All airports charge landing and aircraft handling fees, which will impact on the overall cost of your medical transport. There may also be extension fees to keep the airport open, as well as aircraft de-icing fees.

We provide air ambulances from major airports right across the world, so we can get as close as possible to the patient’s hospital ward. We then use an RAF airport for flights into London, which helps to keep air ambulance costs as manageable as possible.

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