Used an air ambulance service in India: Things could have been better

Full payment was taken upfront. The aircraft assigned to us had a very narrow fuselage. 2 seats were removed to make space for the patient's stretcher & secure it.

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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 it's 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 were allowed to accompany the patient, etc.

Since time was of the essence we shortlisted an air ambulance service provider based out in Mumbai. The aircraft assigned to us was a 6 seater Beechcraft Kingair C90 of 1980s/1990s 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 ambulance paid for by us and arranged by them (the 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 patient's stretcher was strapped down, myself & another family member was 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 patient's 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 some time 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 were 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.

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