What is Air Medical Transport? 

Air Ambulance: (noun) “a specially equipped aircraft, typically a helicopter, used to transport sick or injured people to the hospital in an emergency.”

 

Air medical transport is the transfer and transport of patients experiencing an emergency via aircraft. Often when we think of emergency services, ambulances and fire trucks come to mind, but rarely do we consider the involvement of aircraft. 

 

Air medical transport services are used in a variety of situations, often when the patient may be more than 45 miles away from the nearest hospital that could provide care. Organizations assist in both rural and urban areas, and sometimes take part in backcountry rescue operations. They also provide inter-facility transport services, which transfer a patient from one hospital to another, often to provide more advanced care or treatment.  Air ambulances can fly at an average speed of 180 miles per hour, much faster than the top speed of a ground ambulance, and it is precisely this speed that can sometimes mean the difference between life and death for a patient.