subject: Behind The Scenes Of An Air Medical Transport [print this page] You may assume that an air ambulance journey begins when the patient is picked up by the MedFlight911 medical team and ends when they arrive safely at the receiving facility. And that is the air ambulance experience for patients and their loved ones. But the journey itself is only the most visible part of the air medical transport process. Before and during the trip, there's a lot that goes on "behind the scenes" to ensure that a patient gets to his or her destination safely.
Every air ambulance transport involves many different moving parts, and the team at the MedFlight911 home office is responsible for ensuring that all those parts work smoothly together. From scheduling ground ambulances to communicating with the local fixed base of operation (FBO) to coordinating with the discharging and receiving facilities, there are a lot of details to manage. Since most people aren't aware of all the steps that go into carrying out a successful transport, I thought Id review a few of them today.
Behind-the-scenes Step 1: Gathering information. Once we've made the decision to take on an air medical transport, we need to gather all the information we need for a successful trip, including the patient's medical history, more recent lab and other test results and current medication information. Those details are critical, since they help us determine the best method of transport as well as the type of medical personnel and equipment well need.
Step 2: Choosing the best medical transport method. After we've gathered all the relevant information about a patient, we can determine the best way to get them to where they need to be. Unlike some providers, MedFlight911 has an array of services, such as air ambulance (including a basic life support ambulance, advanced life support ambulance and a critical care transport ambulance), non-emergency ground medical transportation, and air medical escort. That means we're able to recommend a method of transport that truly best fits the patient's needs.
Step 3: Serving as the in-flight communications hub. During the medical transport itself, there's always a transport coordinator back at the MedFlight911 offices monitoring the transport and dealing with any issues that may arise, whether that's helping an air medical escort get a new oxygen concentrator en route or coordinating last-minute changes with the receiving facility. Our goal is to address any concerns before they become a serious problem, so that the patient and their loved ones don't have to worry.
Step 4: Preparing for the unknown. At MedFlight911, we do everything in our power to prepare for a successful air ambulance transport in advance. But we can never know exactly how each trip will play out. With that in mind, we're always prepared to deal with the unexpected so that we can accomplish our primary goal: getting the patient to their destination safely. And thats where our three plus decades of experience, and our dedicated medical transport coordinators, come in ready and able to deal with the unexpected.
Come back next week to learn more about the air ambulance transport process, including everything that happens in-flight to make sure that the patient gets to their destination quickly and safely.
You can find out more about MedFlight911's air ambulance services in our earlier blog posts, or go ahead and give us a call at 888-359-1911 or get a no-obligation transport quote here.
