You might need an air ambulance for a number of reasons, such as a skiing/car accident or a serious illness during a stay abroad.
For medical repatriation by air, Villiers Jets provides air ambulances in line with the client’s current state of health and travel destination.
Villiers Jets rapid medical evacuation and medical repatriation experts can have a team of doctors and paramedics airborne in just two hours.
Their air ambulances have the latest medical equipment on board, so you will be assured to get the best possible medical care during the flight.
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Different Types of Medical Flights
In fact, there are 3 types of “medical flights”, namely:
- air ambulance flights
- heliambulance flights
- medical escorts on airliners.
There are considerable differences from the organizational point of view.
An air ambulance is, of course, the most comfortable way to transport a sick person by air: practically it means to have a private jet dedicated exclusively to the patient.
Small jet or turboprop planes are normally used are for this scope, i.e. aircrafts capable of traveling at high speeds and altitudes. This way it is much easier to reach far destinations in a very short time.
Onboard, in addition to the stretcher, you will find all the equipment typical of an intensive care unit. Moreover, the medical equipment will allow the doctors to deal with any emergency issue.
Obviously, the air ambulance service is suitable only for patients in “critical health conditions”, i.e. sick people who can’t board a commercial flight because they require intensive care.
Normally an air ambulance crew is made up of two pilots, a doctor (often a resuscitator), and a nurse.
The patient will be allowed, without any additional cost, to be assisted by a relative and to carry any baggage.
The Air Ambulance Cost
This may be a sore point…
The air ambulance cost is normally considered out of budget for many people that may need medical repatriation: consider that you will fly on a private jet with 4 crew members, probably for 100s if not 1000s kilometers.
However, nowadays the competition in this travel sector is much higher because several air companies entered the medical flights market.
This fact alone has led to lower prices and made the service affordable for everyone.
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Medical Flights On Heliambulance
This kind of medical flight is not used only as an emergency rescue.
On the contrary, they are often used to transfer patients to close destinations because of the comfort and speed of a helicopter flight, especially in mountainous zones and in small remote islands.
These places are very far from airports but in many cases are equipped with helicopter landing places.
Therefore the time needed to reach the patient, load him on board, and transport the hospital, will be very short.
Moreover, the patient’s health will enjoy a much higher level of comfort in an heliambulance…
As said above for the air ambulance, an heliambulance will be available to:
- Sick people in critical conditions who are in need of intensive care
- People suffering from minor disabilities but wanting to avoid problematic transport by ambulance.
Unlike air ambulances, due to the reduced room available, it will be often denied the presence of a relative or friend on board.
Heliambulances are a good way for saving money on medical flights and medical repatriation and, at the same time, better than a ground ambulance to transfer a sick person.
Medical Flights On Scheduled Airliners, With Doctor And/Or Nurse On Board
These medical flights are normally used by workers or tourists who become sick/injured abroad.
Their conditions are not severe, so they don’t need a dedicated flight, but just some medical assistance and monitoring onboard.
Usually, on this type of flight, the person in need of care will be accompanied by a doctor or/and a nurse. They will fly together on a normal commercial flight and assist the patient in any emergency.
They will be brought on the plane just the minimum medical equipment and they can safely cure the sick person with drugs and devices such as the defibrillator, normally used in any rescue ambulance.
Obviously, the room will be reduced, due to the normally crowded airliners, but the patient can also lie on a stretcher, increasing his comfort for the patient and easing the work of the sanitary assistants in case of need.
Patients suitable for medical escort on scheduled flights are those who do not immediately need intensive care, but who due to their condition may evolve or need simple therapeutic and care interventions.
These include the administration of drugs, the detection of electrocardiographic traces and vital parameters, or simply help with walking around, if needed.
The expenses for this type of medical flight are very low if compared with an air ambulance or a helicopter: the only costs will be the compensation for the medical team and the air tickets prices.
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Medical Flight Cost Is Rising (Update October 2020)
You need to understand that health insurance doesn’t cover air transport in all cases. Often if the relocation is not necessary for medical assistance, but only to bring the patient closer to the family, you’ll have to cover the cost of the air ambulance in part or in full.
Be sure to check with your health insurance agency if they cover an eventual medical flight cost and what are the clauses of the health insurance contract you have stipulated with them.
To help you understand the cost involved in a medical flight we’ve built the following table that shows the indicative prices of air ambulances for different national and international distances:
Medical Flight Cost (Plane Staffed with Paramedics)
| Distance | Aircraft type | Price |
| 50 miles | Twin-engine propeller plane | $2000 |
| 1,500 miles | Light jet | $25,000 |
| 3,000 miles | Light jet | $35,000 |
| 10,000 miles | Light jet (International) | $150,000 |
| 10,000 miles | Mid-size jet (International) | $170,000 |
If the plane is staffed with a doctor and a nurse, the medical flight cost will grow by 2/3%.
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