Luxembourg, 18 November 2015 - Air ambulance services launch wing-to-wing transfer cooperation.
Two highly experienced air medical transport companies have announced that they will join forces to provide wing-to-wing transfer of patients. European Air Ambulance, based out of Luxembourg, and ER24 Global, based in South Africa, signed the cooperation agreement in November.
EAA has signed formal agreements of this kind with other air ambulance services, notably with Canada’s Skyservice Air Ambulance in February 2011. Skyservice also has an agreement with ER24 Global, signed in July this year.
EAA and ER24 Global have already conducted wing-to-wing transfers, including the repatriation of a seriously ill patient from Mauritius to the UK in February 2015. On that occasion, EAA mission control decided to partner with ER24 Global to perform the first part of the mission. This decision was taken because of the nature of the medical emergency and the time frame required for an EAA jet to reach Mauritius from Europe. ER24 Global used its Dassault Falcon 20 jet to pick up the patient and EAA’s medical crew flew in its Lear Jet 35 to Luxor in Egypt (via an overnight in Heraklion, Greece) where they took over the care of 68-year old female British patient from their ER24 Global colleagues. The mission ended successfully after a 20-hour round trip with a ground ambulance transfer to home hospital care in the UK.
EAA
European Air Ambulance can call on nearly 30 years experience in the medical air transport sector. EAA always puts the patient first and ensures that missions are meticulously prepared by flight control and executed using highly qualified and experienced medical and flight crew, wherever the patient is located.
ER24 GLOBAL
Emergency medical services company ER24 Global also has a truly global reach as part of the Mediclinic International Hospital Group, which has existed since 1983. ER24 was established in 2000 and is a 100% subsidiary of Mediclinic and has been providing a range of quality emergency response and pre-hospital care services out of 45 bases throughout South Africa ever since.
The new cooperation agreement will help accelerate the repatriation of patients. It will allow both air ambulance companies to plan missions more efficiently, without losing time on obligatory crew rest since the wing-to-wing transfer will take place at the end of duty time and include the handover of the patient to a fresh crew from the partner organisation. It also provides clients with more options in the services they provide patients who require repatriation.
For further information on EAA: http://www.air-ambulance.com/
For further information on ER24 GLOBAL: https://www.er24.co.za/
