An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medical emergencies by emergency medical services (EMS), and can rapidly transport paramedics and other first responders, carry equipment for administering emergency care, and transport patients to hospital or other definitive care. Most ambulances use a design based on vans or pickup trucks, though others take the form of motorcycles, buses, hearses, aircraft and boats.
Casualty evacuation, also known as CASEVAC or by the callsign Dustoff or colloquially Dust Off, is a military term for the emergency patient evacuation of casualties from a combat zone. Casevac can be done by both ground and air. "DUSTOFF" is the callsign specific to U.S. Army Air Ambulance units. CASEVACs by air today are almost exclusively done by helicopter, a practice begun on a small scale toward the end of World War II; before that, STOL aircraft, such as the Fieseler Fi 156 or Piper J-3 were used.
The Sikorsky R-4 is a two-seat helicopter that was designed by Igor Sikorsky with a single, three-bladed main rotor and powered by a radial engine. The R-4 was the world's first large-scale mass-produced helicopter and the first helicopter used by the United States Army Air Forces, the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. In U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard service, the helicopter was known as the Sikorsky HNS-1. In British service it was known as the Hoverfly.
ARCH Air Medical Service is an emergency medical service (EMS) that provides critical care air ambulance service in Missouri, Illinois, and the surrounding regions. Air ambulance programs offer transport by helicopter (rotor-wing) or fixed-wing aircraft. ARCH Air was the twelfth program in the U.S. to offer such services when it began operating in March 1979. Transporting approximately 4,200 patients per year by helicopter, ARCH aircraft are staffed by a pilot, nurse and paramedic. Flights are 80% inter-facility and 20% scene.
The Northland Emergency Services Trust (NEST) is an emergency air rescue service in Whangārei, New Zealand. The Trust is supported by contributions from local sponsors, individuals, families, businesses and organisations. The operator, Northern Rescue Helicopter Ltd. (NRHL), is a joint venture between Northland Emergency Services Trust and Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust.
NSW Ambulance, previously the Ambulance Service of NSW, is an agency of NSW Health and the statutory provider of pre-hospital emergency care and ambulance services in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
Aeromedical evacuation (AE) usually refers to the use of military transport aircraft to carry wounded personnel.
The Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Service is a helicopter surf lifesaving service that operates in Australia.
Flight for Life is a prehospital care service with many bases of operation across the United States. Flight for Life is primarily known for its emergency medical helicopter transport, but also operates a fleet of land vehicles and fixed-wing aircraft for the transport of critically ill patients to specialized medical care. Helicopter transport is normally reserved for the most critically injured patients or patients who cannot be reached by traditional means of Emergency medical services. Helicopter transport is also especially useful for the transport of critically wounded patients to specialty medical facilities, such as burn, pediatric, or advanced trauma centers, that may be further away from the location of injury. Many rural communities rely on the speed of the helicopter to reach and evacuate their most serious patients to an available medical center. The helicopter may also be used for search and rescue operations in conjunction with ground units or alone.
STAT MedEvac "originally STAT Angel One" is a service of the Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The primary function of STAT MedEvac is to provide emergency medevac and air medical transport of critically wounded or sick civilians, either from emergency scenes or between hospitals. As of July of 2017, the organization also operates two ground ambulances for patients with severe injury or critical illness. STAT MedEvac is directed by a consortium of hospitals of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) that include UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, UPMC Altoona, UPMC Hamot, UPMC Mercy and UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside. STAT MedEvac's base of operations is in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, at the Allegheny County Airport. With 18 air bases across Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Ohio, and the District of Columbia, it is one of the largest single operated and dispatched air-medical service organizations in the United States.
A flight nurse is a registered nurse specializing in the field of providing comprehensive pre-hospital, emergency critical care, and hospital care to a vast scope of patients. The care of these patients is generally provided during aeromedical evacuation or rescue operations aboard helicopters, propeller aircraft, or jet aircraft. On board a rescue aircraft, is a flight nurse, accompanied by flight medics and respiratory practitioners, as well as the option of a flight physician for comprehensive emergency and critical transport teams. The inclusion of a flight physician is more common in pediatric and neonatal transport teams. A critical care flight nurse must be able to deal with all age groups with broad critical emergencies. With no physicians on site, the nurses scope of practice is expanded. The critical care experience is transferred over to a flight nurse with impacting factors such as altitude and changes in pressure, gravitational forces, and weather. Some patients may experience exacerbations because of factors related to the cabin environment, including hypoxia, limited mobility, gas expansion, and the risk of injury related to turbulence. Resources for definitive care are limited. Aeromedical evacuation crews coordinate with other organizations to plan for the safe and timely care and evacuation of patients. Crews must be prepared for patients with trauma and mental health illnesses.
The Trauma Hawk Aero-Medical Program provides air ambulance services for Palm Beach County, Florida. On-scene paramedics will decide whether or not a Traumahawk is necessary in a situation. On average, a Traumahawk is dispatched between 1 and 5 times a day for traumatic injuries, including those from vehicle accidents to sports injuries, as well as transport for stroke and cardiac patients. Operated by the Health Care District of Palm Beach County, the service uses two identical 1999 Sikorsky S76-C+ helicopters as air ambulances.
Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 (HSC-25) "Island Knights" is a United States Navy helicopter squadron based at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The "Island Knights" of HSC-25 fly the MH-60S "Knighthawk" helicopter, manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Stratford, Connecticut.
Air ambulances in the United States are operated by a variety of hospitals, local government agencies, and for-profit companies. Medical evacuations by air are also performed by the United States Armed Forces and United States National Guard.
The Helicopter unit is the police aviation unit of the Police of Serbia.
CareFlight is an air medical service headquartered in Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
Major General Spurgeon Neel, MD, was a United States Army physician who pioneered the development of aeromedical evacuation of battlefield casualties.
Air medical services are the use of aircraft, including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to provide various kinds of urgent medical care, especially prehospital, emergency and critical care to patients during aeromedical evacuation and rescue operations.
The Emergency Aeromedical Service (EAS) is a helicopter-based medical evacuation and air ambulance service based in Athlone, Ireland. Operated since 2012 by the Air Corps and National Ambulance Service under the call sign MEDEVAC 112, the service was redesignated AIR CORPS 112 in 2016. It is a joint project of the Irish government Departments of Defence and Health, and provides an advanced-paramedic response to patients whose location or clinical condition requires aeromedical support.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army.
