On 11 June, an EagleMed air ambulance helicopter crashed in Talihina, Oklahoma, US, injuring the three crew members and killing the 49-year-old patient onboard. The crash was the second fatal accident for the company in 2013.
London’s Air Ambulance (LAA) has reported on a mission that took place earlier this year that saw them attend the scene of a stabbing of a teenaged boy. An LAA doctor and paramedic were by the boy’s side in moments, performed open heart surgery and administered blood at the roadside, bringing him back from being clinically dead. The 16-year-old has since been to visit the team that saved his life.
German air rescue provider DRF Luftrettung held a ceremony on 13 June to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its first rescue. The event also marked the official opening of the newly built operation centre at Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden airport.
Air Evac Lifeteam has confirmed the loss of three of its crew members in the crash of an air ambulance helicopter that occurred on 6 June at around 11:30 hrs. According to reports, the helicopter went down in the car park of a school in Manchester, Kentucky, US, near to where the aircraft was due to land.
NEWS ANALYSIS: In March, England-based fixed-wing air ambulance providers CEGA and AirMed (AirMedical Ltd) proudly trumpeted the publication of their first inspection reports from the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A third company, Capital Air Ambulance, has been visited by the CQC, but not yet inspected. But how do the CQC’s rules, drafted largely with hospitals, care homes and other immobile healthcare providers in mind, apply to organisations that move patients by air, and does – or should – the wider aeromedical and travel insurance industry care?