[swarnava.ch]

My Experience of booking an Air Ambulance to airlift family member for Medical Emergency.

Disclaimer: I am not associated in anyway with the Service provider https://www.icatt.in/ mentioned below other than taking their paid services. Additionally I will not go too much into the medical details to protect privacy of family members involved.

Living in Metro city like Bangalore often gives us access to excellent medical facilities however the same cannot be said about the non metro cities. So while its always easy to take things for granted when things are going great, we understand the importance of the smallest of these facilities during desperate times specially health emergencies.

Background – Due to my family member’s health condition, we consulted with the treating doctor back home and decided to move her via Air Ambulance to Bangalore for further treatment.

Decision:
After a day of deliberation and weighing in with Family’s consent, we all decided to best get her back to Bangalore as soon as She is little bit stable and after the treating doctor’s consent. But what are our options ?
1. Fly commercial flight, take 3 Seats together in a row and make the patient lie down – but this comes with additional challenge that while boarding, She will have to sit in a wheel chair like others for atleast 2 hours and her health condition didn’t permit this.
2. Get a Air Ambulance to shift her under Medical supervision from Home town hospital to Bangalore hospital. This was feasible, costly and we had no idea if this can be done or not. Tried asking around but could not get any real experiences.

Again family huddle time and after some debate, we decided for the Air Ambulance option. But what next ? How to go about it ?

Planning:
First Step – Search on Google and called up all of the Operator links I could find – first two companies said its doable because there is an airport in my hometown and I was quoted a cost upwards of about 10 Lakhs. My worry was about the quality of service and trustworthiness but atleast it’s a start.
For reference my hometown is about 1800 kms by road from Bangalore In the northern part of India.
Note- if you live closer to a metro city lets say 200 to 350 kms, you can avail Heli Ambulance which will come out to be cheaper at about 3 Lakhs depending on the city.

Second Step: I had an idea, even if I want to get her admitted, I would still have to find a Doctor at the hospital so I searched online, found a doctor and took an appointment with all reports and patient still back home. He suggested a few things and then I finally asked him if he knew how to fly her from back home. That is when he gave me the number of a vendor (https://www.icatt.in/) who usually works with Manipal. I immediately searched them, called them and explained my situation.

The first thing was that they were based out of Bangalore, getting the reference from the doctor itself was giving latent confidence and finally when it came to pricing, they were transparent enough. They also explained that they are a group of people who have come together to start this service, they have quite some experience operating Air Ambulance with a team which includes experienced Doctor and what we wanted could be done.

Final Planning:
So the agreement was to start the transfer from Hometown hospital to Hometown Airport in an Ambulance, then from the Airport to Bangalore HAL Airport (not BIAL) and finally form HAL Airport to Manipal hospital in an Ambulance by road. So the transfer would be Door to Door and at all times there would be medical supervision.

By the time we could agree to all terms it was already 2:00pm and it was not possible to fly the same day given that they needed to finalize the flight and permissions etc. So we decided to start the process the Next day early morning at 7:00 am. The initial plan was that a Doctor from ICATT team will fly with all medical equipment from Bangalore to Hometown and reach by 7:00 am. Meanwhile the actual aircraft which was stationed at Delhi will reach Hometown at around 8:00pm and then they will pick up and reach Bangalore by 12 noon or 1:00 pm. Please do Note that while a commercial direct flight will take 2.5 hrs only for this journey, Air Ambulances are usually Fixed Wing smaller planes and they need more time as they fly slow and besides they will need to take a Fuel stop. All payments had to be made upfront and we agreed and started the process.

We handed over all documents like Aadhar card of patient, Covid certificate, Case history, Discharge Summary, doctor’s advise what medication is needed etc. Another point is that with the patient, only two other attendants can accompany in the Air Ambulance.

D-Day:
Next day morning, we wake up at 7:00 morning to learn that the Doctor who was flying from Bangalore to hometown was deboarded (in Indigo) due to some problem with Equipment check in at Bangalore Airport and now he has to directly fly to Delhi to come with the Air Ambulance which was located at Delhi and was scheduled to fly from there. So this delay meant that the remaining plan also shift by about 4 hours over all. Anyways, at around 10:30 the local Ambulance reached Hometown hospital to prepare the patient for transfer, and take them to the Airport.

Everyone reached the airport and completed formalities for boarding. The boarding cards were ready already with Passenger names. The ground Ambulance is usually allowed will the parked flight to aid boarding for the patient and that means you go from a different entry at the airport almost to the parked craft. Air Ambulance took off right on schedule at 10:30 and reached hometown airport at around 12 noon - also in time. All formalities were completed, patient onboarded and wheels up by 1:00 pm.

Some trivia: Here is a pic of the fixed wing Air Ambulance.



Aircraft’s Registration Number is VT-RSN.
Quick google search will show the following details:
Source : Link


Aircraft’s model is King Air B200 – Wiki link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Super_King_Air

It was a small craft with a Pilot and the Co Pilot. Being small, there was quite some turbulence during the journey and a bit more noise than a commercial flight. Family was served some food and water on the flight during travel. Seats were luxurious, sofa like, bigger than typical commercial seats and quite comfortable for the passengers.
The aircraft needed refueling on the way and did a quick stop over at Raipur airport for a short 30 mins refueling stop and continued the rest of the way to Bangalore.

Finally we were eagerly waiting at Bangalore HAL airport and the Air Ambulance landed at about 5:45 pm and the local Ambulance was already waiting to pick up the patient and move to hospital emergency.
So the mission completed successfully and the transfer was completed.

Conclusion:
1. Its important to choose a trusted vendor for planning Air Ambulance as there can be un expected challenges along such a plan and prior experience dealing with that will help a lot. Keep in the loop with your Doctor, Hospital and Transporter.
2. Patient’s condition plays the most crucial role during the transfer and equipment planning like Ventilator, Oxygen support etc. For more critical care required during the journey, its important that the Doctor’s recommendations are clear to the Air Ambulance operator.
3. It’s a costly affair, most of the times this cost is part of Pre Hospitalization Insurance process but covered only for a smaller amount (varies from policy to policy) so better check with your insurance provider for coverage details.

[Sheel]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[V.Narayan]

Thank you for sharing this. To add to the information the OP has provided here is a list of documents you will need if you were to use an air ambulance. It is a measure of India's progress that such services are now available. In 1979 I recall my family needed this service and the only solution was to book three seats in a Indian Airline flight and some how make a tall patient lie down on it. This was impractical. Eventually we took the patient by train with a doctor in attendance.

List Of Documents Required To Use Air Ambulance in India

The following documents are required for an air ambulance in India:
1. A valid medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner.
2. A medical clearance certificate from the hospital where the patient is admitted.
3. A valid passport or other valid identity documents of the patient.
4. A valid visa, if required.
5. If applicable, a copy of the patient’s medical insurance policy.
6. A copy of the air ambulance service provider’s insurance policy.
7. A copy of the patient’s medical history and relevant medical records.
8. A signed and dated authorization letter from the patient and the patient’s family permitting the air ambulance service to be carried out.
9. Any additional documents that the air ambulance service provider or relevant government authorities may require.

Hope our members find this useful.

[MyLife_MyCar]

Could you pls tell how much you paid for air ambulance. Somewhere you mentioned 10L which is a lot. I was recently exploring health insurance options and they was offering about 2-3L only for air ambulance.

How much was covered in your family member's insurance? Also, if you could mention which policy it is?

[gypsygenes]

Thank you for this post Swarnava. Very helpful. I have a recent experience of a medical emergency and had to fly hometown to Mumbai. It was the most nerve wrecking flight I have ever taken. Although in my case the uncertainty and fear (of unknown life prospects) was far higher than the actual medical situation. Of course, this was all learnt podt-facto.

Thankful for your review.

As V Narayan mentioned - it is a measure of India's progress. And surely, this is one area- medical care, that I am much thankful about. One can now hope to live a good/desirable life in non metro locations and not be anxious about medical support when in need. My nightmare in our town is mostly about powercuts in ICU at hospitals and astounding levels of medical negligence. I have witnessed them. That has troubled me all these years. Now, I can literally commute Mumbai - Nagpur and connect to our town and seek good medical care.

[Krishna sankar]

In the year 2015, we used air ambulance service for shifting a patient from Madhyapradesh ( 300 kms from Bhopal) to Mumbai with a doctor on board. The aircraft came from Mumbai and they had a limitation that the flight need to take off before 6.00 PM from Bhopal airport. But due to traffic enroute to Bhopal, the ambulance was delayed and we had to get special permission for delaying the aircraft at Bhopal for about 50 minutes. The cost at that time was around Rs. 4.00 lakhs.

[souvikjana83]

I would like to know 3 things if it's not too much to ask:

1. Starting Airport
2. Total Cost
3. Do Kolkata lacked the speciality hospital due to which you choosed Bangalore? If not then why not Kolkata?

In case you don't wish to answer any of the questions, please choose not to..

[swarnava.ch]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

8. A signed and dated authorization letter from the patient and the patient’s family permitting the air ambulance service to be carried out.

Dear V.Narayan sir, Thanks for your valuable inputs as always. Your insights are always very helpful. I completely forgot about the above point as I was mostly managing remotely but was not present at the starting point.

Originally Posted by MyLife_MyCar

Could you pls tell how much you paid for air ambulance.
Thanks MyLife_MyCar. How much was covered in your family member's insurance? Also, if you could mention which policy it is?

My total cost was around 9.4L and unfortunately its not fully covered in Insurance.
So for example we checked with our respective corporate insurances, in one – there was no coverage for Air Ambulance. In one there was coverage but only for a max claim of about 1.5L. I would suggest to check this in specifically from respective Insurance providers. I have heard some of the latest policies offering higher coverage however you cannot get the full amount like mine covered.

Originally Posted by souvikjana83

I would like to know 3 things if it's not too much to ask:
1. Starting Airport
2. Total Cost
3. Do Kolkata lacked the speciality hospital due to which you choosed Bangalore? If not then why not Kolkata?

Hi souvikjana83, I was dreading this question, I knew these valid questions will come but I have to also keep in mind that posting publicly without greater context and details does not do justice to the decisions. I would request your kind consideration but let me try to answer a few.
1. Starting Airport – May I skip this one please, do not want to put any wrong impression or cast aspersions on my city. My decisions were my own.
2. Total Cost – This came out to approx. 9.4L Door to Door including everything.
3. Why Bangalore and not another city ?
This is valid question. Actually based on logic and practicality, the nearest best option would have been Lucknow. Short flight time of approx 2 hrs at max with both public and private medical facilities. It would have also costed far less. The only problem was that it would be a new city for me, I am not familiar with Doctors and would have to rely on acquaintances. It would be a lot of effort to manage a long hospital stay post admission for remaining family members to get support.
Compare this to Bangalore where I have Family members to support, close network of friends if / when any Blood donation required etc, my own conveyance, closeness to hospital, familiar setup etc.
So the decision came down to – if the treating Doctor had not allowed for a long 8 hours flight transfer to Bangalore, then I would have taken the next best option. Since in this case I got a go ahead, I preferred to setup base in my second home.

[busydrive]

Thanks for sharing this. Very informative. You won't get these details in public internet.
Meanwhile, hope things are better now and wishing your family member a speedy recovery.

[BlackBeard]

Hello Everybody,

This is to narrate my experience of utilizing the services of an Air Ambulance in India. The trip was from CCU to MAA.

In 2022 a family member was diagnosed with a brain tumor, the MRI scan showed it to be sizeable and on a 2nd opinion from a known surgeon in Chennai, he recommended immediate surgery.

As the patient was stretcher bound we looked for commercial flight options.
Apparently only Indigo & Air India transport stretcher bound patients by air. To obtain the necessary permissions and get a slot on a flight (3 rows of seats have to be removed i.e 9 Pax. to accommodate a stretcher) is very time consuming (Minimum 3-7 days) & depending on the passenger traffic in that particular sector further delays can occur, no doubt its cheaper than the air ambulance.

We decided the faster & better option would be to take an Air Ambulance.
I searched the internet for options (Most air ambulance operators are located in Mumbai or New Delhi) & asked around a few friends and the hospital itself & got a few leads.

After shortlisting a few operators I sent enquiries regarding the charges for the transportation, type of aircraft, facilities provided, how many support staff & family members allowed to accompany the patient...etc

Since time was of the essence we shortlisted "Air rescuers Worldwide Pvt. Ltd" of Mumbai. The aircraft assigned to us was a 6 seater Beechcraft Kingair C90 of 1980's/1990's vintage LMW Coimbatore was an ex-owner.
Full payment was taken upfront and further details were shared only after that. 1 doctor, 1 nurse/technician & some medical eqpt. were provided (Ventilator, multipara monitor, defibrillator, suction machine, Oxygen etc....).
We thankfully did not need any of the eqpt. 2 family members were allowed on board the flight. We were told ETA of the aircraft at CCU was 1900 Hrs.

The Ambulance arrived late at the hospital to pick us up. The journey from the hospital to the airport was by an ambulance paid for by us and arranged by them (vehicle was a Tata Winger). The driver was a slightly better version of the Ola/Uber chaps we use, sudden braking and all over the road (luckily the patients stretcher was strapped down, myself & another family member were all over the place. I guess in India the concept of giving emergency vehicles the right of way is still alien to most people on the road.

Once we reached the airport, we dropped off the lady passenger at the domestic departure terminal for boarding formalities and alighted the ambulance waiting for the AAI ambulance to take us to the Apron. The patients stretcher was offloaded on the tarmac.

There is something fundamentally wrong with us Indians, the absolute lack of empathy or conducting ourselves in a dignified manner. Making an 80 year old man awaiting a medevac lie in a stretcher on the tarmac of a busy airport is absolutely ok.

A nut case like me who loses his top at the drop of a hat had to grit his teeth and bear with it. I initially objected to the 1st ambulance departing till the 2nd arrived but that is all I could do. The AAI ambulance (A noisy beat up Swaraj Mazda) arrived after a while and then we proceeded to the old airport terminal and took a side gate to enter the cargo terminal where a security check was conducted on the patient too before letting us proceed to the apron. We were joined by the lady passenger over there and again the patient was offloaded on the tarmac and the AAI ambulance left.

We waited on the Tarmac for sometime before the stretcher was loaded onto the aircraft. The King air C90 is designed to carry 6 Pax. & 2 crew and has a very narrow fuselage and a single door in the rear & very cramped inside. The stretcher had to be manoeuvred delicately to take it in and 2 seats had been removed to make place for the stretcher & secure it. We were supposed to depart at 2000 but managed finally at 2200 Hrs including the delays on the road and at the airport. The flying time was supposed to be 4.5 Hrs, with 1 re-fueling halt in Kakinada which was later changed to Vizag due to adverse weather.

I thought the ordeal was over now that we were airborne, till the aircraft landed in Vizag. I was under the impression that the refueling would be a fast process, however we waited for an hour for the tanker to arrive. All the while power on the aircraft was switched off the door was open and all of us except 2 people alighted to stretch our legs. I peeped inside the aircraft to check on the 2 people inside from time to time the heat and mosquitoes was terrible. By the time we tanked up and were ready to depart it was 2 hours plus. I even heard the pilot tell the refueller "jaldi karo patient andar hai"...so much so for this being a medevac flight.

We finally took off and landed in MAA around 0430, 4 hours after the scheduled ETA. The hospital ambulance was waiting at the Apron of the business aviation terminal, we transferred the patient to the ambulance and were on our way to the hospital.

The Air Ambulance service provider did provide agents to assist us at the CCU airport and were in contact via whatsapp. IMO the entire process could have been smoother. The aircraft certainly could have been better but I do not know if this is a regulated sector in India, on what basis are the prices decided? who decides them? Who certifies them?

Does anybody have any similar experience? would like to know their opinion about it.

Before anybody asks, NO photos/videos were taken given the sombre situation.

[BlackBeard]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

It is a measure of India's progress that such services are now available. In 1979 I recall my family needed this service and the only solution was to book three seats in a Indian Airline flight and some how make a tall patient lie down on it. This was impractical. Eventually we took the patient by train with a doctor in attendance.

List Of Documents Required To Use Air Ambulance in India

The following documents are required for an air ambulance in India:

6. A copy of the air ambulance service provider’s insurance policy.

9. Any additional documents that the air ambulance service provider or relevant government authorities may require.

Hope our members find this useful.

Now a days they require 3 rows of seats to be removed to accommodate a stretcher, needless to say the air fare for those 9 seats have to be borne by the patient.

Interesting, the air ambulance provided us with NO documents regarding their aircraft or organization, just the aircraft call sign & type.
Apparently its still an un-regulated sector lots to scrutinize and immense scope of improvement!

[Geo_Ipe]

This following message is from another group.I thought it was very useful info, so sharing.

_"I'd like to share my experience in shifting my mother from Pune to Gurgaon recently. She had a fall and surgery and post that was advised no flight travel._

I came across something called a train ambulance. These are private operators who provide a bed to bed service via train. They operate pan-India and have options of a general/semi ICU/full ICU set up.

_Booking is done in regular trains in second AC/first AC. You get an attendant and a doctor for the whole journey. Pick up is by ambulance - transfer to train - ambulance, and drop off._

This particular agency was super professional.
Sharing details in case anyone ever needs this type of service.
This is a pan-India service and hence available everywhere in India.

*Ayuseva Air & Train Ambulance*
90316 90777

Received this message in one of the WhatsApp groups I'm a part of. I have no personal experiences with them nor am I affiliated with the company in any way. Thought of posting this here as it may be useful for someone.

[uncharted]

Originally Posted by BlackBeard

I thought the ordeal was over now that we were airborne, till the aircraft landed in Vizag. I was under the impression that the refueling would be a fast process, however we waited for an hour for the tanker to arrive. All the while power on the aircraft was switched off the door was open and all of us except 2 people alighted to stretch our legs. I peeped inside the aircraft to check on the 2 people inside from time to time the heat and mosquitoes was terrible. By the time we tanked up and were ready to depart it was 2 hours plus. I even heard the pilot tell the refueller "jaldi karo patient andar hai"...so much so for this being a medevac flight.

My heart goes out for you as well as anyone facing such situations inspite of being fortunate enough to arrange and pay princely amounts for such necessities. I am just reminded of how stark a contrast this is to what happens in the West in such cases. In the beginning of the book "Atomic Habits" where the author Clear narrates all his ordeal with great pain from the moment he gets hit by a baseball bat till he is discharged from the hospital within a couple of days, all I could wonder was how fortunate he was through the ordeal where an established system was ensuring his life was being saved through each step - from he being carried from the field to the "functional" nurse's room in the school where there is a competent nurse who checks his level of consciousness with prompt questions, decides without wasting time to shift him to the local hospital in an ambulance that is readily available, the local hospital that ensures everything that's needed to save his life is provided to him(everything that's needed is available and functional in the first place) and promptly decides to shift him to a bigger hospital through a helicopter that is able to land right across the street in no time that takes him and his mother and when they land on the hospital's roof top, a battery of 20 doctors/paramedics are waiting to shift him out of the helicopter to the treatment rooms. When they treat him, they provide a local priest and a social worker to comfort his parents. And by next day, he is ready to leave the hospital! Was he a scion of the richest family of that country? Was he in one of the most premium private schools in the country? Did his family run pillar to post frantically in any step of this whole episode? Was he a powerful politican to be received by a battery of 20 medical professionals when he was moved out of the air ambulance? A big NO for all these questions. And when did all this happen? 2002 - 20 years before this incident in the post happened here! I am feeling void and left with a dry smile. I don't think I can find an answer for how and why humans are what we are!

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by uncharted

an established system was ensuring his life was being saved through each step - from he being carried from the field to the "functional" nurse's room in the school where there is a competent nurse who checks his level of consciousness with ..... to the local hospital in an ambulance that is readily available, the local hospital that ensures everything that's needed to save his life is provided to him.....when they land on the hospital's roof top, a battery of 20 doctors/paramedics are waiting to shift him out of the helicopter to the treatment rooms.

This seems unbelievable. My experience was completely different. My neighbour's son was in school and got fever, school nurse called ER. Bill for ER visit was around $1500 in 2004. He was new to country and was not aware of US medical system.

Author that you mentioned, must have had pretty good insurance from Sports Team / University to be covered for all this.

For example :

https://rules.cityofnewyork.us/rule/...lance-service/ (Minimum charge for FDNY Ambulance alone is now $1000)


https://www.northjersey.com/story/ne...y/72344263007/

The Sussex County resident said her son received phenomenal care at both hospitals, but when it was all over she was astonished by the bills. The first was more than $6,000, which she said she knew was incorrect because it was above the maximum out-of-pocket charge for his insurance plan. Cosgrove immediately called her son's insurance company, Aetna, to dispute the claims.

She was left perplexed, because her son's insurance covered both hospital visits but not the ambulance ride between the two Atlantic Health hospitals.

[uncharted]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

This seems unbelievable. My experience was completely different. My neighbour's son was in school and got fever, school nurse called ER. Bill for ER visit was around $1500 in 2004. He was new to country and was not aware of US medical system.

Author that you mentioned, must have had pretty good insurance from Sports Team / University to be covered for all this.

For example :

https://rules.cityofnewyork.us/rule/...lance-service/ (Minimum charge for FDNY Ambulance alone is now $1000)


https://www.northjersey.com/story/ne...y/72344263007/

Thanks for this perspective. I probably did not word my post to convey what I wanted to. I wanted to talk about a "functional" system that you can depend on provided you have paid for the insurance or have the money. Here, we don't seem to have it even if you are ready to shell out 9-10 lakhs for the air ambulance( that I came across in different posts on the same topic here) and even after shelling out so much money, the patient is treated the way that the OP had described - stretcher on the tarmac, 2 hour wait with power off for refueling and all.