CASE STUDY: International road-accident repatriations
Every air ambulance flight is linked to a tragedy in some way. However, within a short period, the European Air Ambulance (EAA) was tasked with four very similar repatriations with the same background and fate.
After being involved in serious road accidents in various parts of the world, a total of eight young female travellers have found themselves in very difficult situations. EAA was trusted by different assistance companies to organise the repatriations of eight intensive care patients on four separate missions. For each of the four missions, EAA deployed its long-range aircraft, the Bombardier Challenger 605, which can fly two intensive care patients at the same time, without compromising space or comfort for the medical crews and accompanying passengers.
The first case from Cape Verde to Luxembourg involved two young female adults who had a tragic car accident. As the initial medical reports for both patients were lacking essential details, it was decided to add a second physician to the mission, to be prepared for any eventuality on the return flight with both intensive care patients on board. Upon arrival in Cape Verde, EAA’s medical crew went straight to the local hospital to gather the latest medical updates of the two adolescents. Both patients were evaluated as “fit to fly”, however with a sea level pressurisation. After a 6-hour nonstop flight back to Luxembourg, the young travellers were handed over successfully to the hospital on duty.
Only a few days later, EAA was tasked with a very similar case, this time even a bit further away from EAA’s homebase in Luxembourg: two young travellers were involved in a motorcycle accident in Nicaragua and suffered substantial injuries. Although both adolescents were medically stable, another challenge upon arrival in Nicaragua was encountered: as the local customs did not allow EAA’s medical team to take the medical equipment off the aircraft, two ICU ambulances with the required equipment to guarantee a safe transportation had to be organised on a very short notice. After only one short fuel stop in Bermuda and a total flight time of around 11 hours, the Bombardier Challenger 605 landed back safely in Belgium.
A third case implicated two young sisters who suffered from life threatening injuries after a terrible car accident in Canada. From a medical perspective, this mission was the most challenging, as both young patients had traumatic brain injuries along with chest and orthopaedic injuries. Even though the local medical support in Canada was on a very high level, it was decided to repatriate both patients back to France. EAA decided to put two experienced flight nurses along with the physician on the long-haul flight to guarantee optimal care of both intensive care patients.
A pretty much identical mission was performed from Uganda to Austria only a few weeks later: again, two young female travellers were involved in an unfortunate road accident and a quick repatriation back home was requested by the assistance company. This time, EAA’s Operational Control Center was challenged with various airspace closures over Africa. After careful planning, hand in hand with EAA’s security department, the mission was flown without any further delay and both young patients were successfully repatriated back to Austria.
Although the four missions were very similar, each of them had its very own complexity, be it from an operational, medical, or logistical point of view. EAA’s 24/7 Operation Control Center and Medical Department handled each mission with dedicated care while keeping its clients always updated. With 35 years’ experience in aeromedical transport, EAA is renowned for its medical quality and operational reliability.