About Air Ambulance Services

Air ambulances are helicopters equipped like an ambulance, dedicated to transporting patients in dire need to hospitals. Air ambulances provide a valuable service to patients needing medical care. When someone is in need of urgent care, but lives too far from a hospital to get treatment in time if using ground transportation, air ambulances prevent tragedies from happening. In other cases, hospital patients needing medical expertise that is only available across the country ride in an air ambulance.

History

• The first hospital-based air ambulance took flight in 1970. Since then, air ambulances have become an integral part of health care. Private companies oversee most air ambulance services, providing emergency transportation with medical staff to the hospital necessary.

Significance

• Before air ambulances, people who lived in remote settings had little to no access to hospitals in a time-sensitive emergency. When hospital transports were solely on ground, many patients were not able to travel to another hospital due to restrictions on being away from a medically-staffed hospital facility. Air ambulances provide an invaluable service in both of these cases by cutting down transport time and providing medical services in transit.

Function

• Air ambulances are a faster mode of transport for emergency services. Air ambulances transport cases of rural emergencies, or when a patient transport occurs over a large distance. Air ambulances have all medical equipment that ambulances have on board, as well as medication. The staff on air ambulances has certification through the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program, just as ambulance workers are. The pilots usually have significant experience flying helicopters, and maintain all certifications and requirements to operate the aircraft. The helicopters must pass all mandated inspections by the FAA or private certification agency.

Effects

• Air ambulances allow for people injured in remote areas access to the best hospitals, even if they are far away. By reducing transit time in patients in distress, air ambulances reduce fatalities and save lives.

Considerations

• Air ambulances are very expensive. They are only for true emergency cases when ground transport is not an option due to health risks. There are a significant number of deaths due to air ambulance crashes, so this mode of transport is not without risk.

Benefits

• In many cases, air ambulances are life-saving to patients. They make almost any hospital accessible, thereby leading to patients having the ability to go to specialty hospitals when necessary. They also provide rural inhabitants access to hospitals within a reasonable amount of time, which is not possible with ground transport.