What is an Air Ambulance?
An air ambulance plane is a safe, comfortable method of transporting patients who are too ill to travel long distances by ground. An air ambulance plane is a business class aircraft that has been specially equipped for a patient that requires extensive or urgent medical assistance and a fast and safe method of transport of a distance of 100 miles or more. These patients are too sick or weak to endure the rigors of commercial flights. The aircraft is manned by a medical flight crew and carries equipment including respirators, medication, an ECG and monitoring unit, CPR equipment, and stretchers.
There are two types of air ambulances used for medical transport: helicopters and fixed wing airplanes. Helicopters are used for short-haul, trauma-related emergency flights when time is of the essence. Helicopters are typically managed by hospitals, or city, county and state Emergency Management Systems. Fixed wing aircraft are used for non-emergency medical air transport.
How Much Does Air Ambulance Cost?
As you might expect, the cost of medical air transport is fairly expensive. Medevac cost is determined by the condition of the patient, the type of aircraft utilized and the distance traveled.
U.S. Air Ambulance is committed to providing low cost air ambulance service without compromising patient care. The
pricing section on this website discusses pricing examples, rate schedules and several money-saving options for your transport.
Which Service Is Right for Me?
Air ambulance service is the fastest method of transporting critically ill patients from one facility to another. All planes are equipped with life support equipment to meet the critical care needs of the patient.
Medical escort via commercial flights is a cost-effective alternative when a patient is capable of sitting up during take-off and landing. The patient is accompanied throughout the trip by at least one member of our medical team. This includes care during the medical flight and any necessary transport by ground ambulance.
This can be a money-saving option when time is not a critical issue, but the patient's condition requires him/her to be lying down. Patients are accompanied by members of our medical team and travel in a sleeper car of an Amtrak train.
This method is a less expensive option for patients in need of international medical transportation to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
U.S. Air Ambulances works with the selected commercial airline to remove several rows of seats to accommodate the patient's stretcher and medical equipment. Our medical team accompanies the patient for the duration of the flight, as well as during ground transfers via ground ambulance.
This is a logical choice for non-critical patients whose medical transport requires less than 24 hours of driving time and/or a distance of 1500 miles or under.
Because of our commitment to exceptional customer service, U.S. Air Ambulance has received hundreds of letters of thanks and recommendation from patients and their families. Here are just a few
testimonials.
