FAI receives EASA certification for EpiShuttle

Medical transport provider FAI has been awarded supplementary type certification (STC) by the European Union Aerospace Safety Agency (EASA) for the newly installed EpiShuttle medical isolation unit on a Bombardier Challenger 604.

The certification was required by EASA due to the decision to install the EpiShuttle on a Spectrum Aeromed MedBase with a fixed adaptation to a Spectrum Aeromed Cargo Stretcher, since the EpiShuttle could no longer be considered ‘loose equipment’.

Testing the EpiShuttle

The certification followed the completion of three tests procedures formulated to ensure the EpiShuttle met specific requirements outlined by EASA in coordination with FAI and a third-party development company, with FAI Air Ambulance investing a total of €57,000 in the individual test procedures.

The tests were:

• Flammability - which tested how rapidly the built-in material ignited and how they reacted when burned
• Rapid decompression - which tested whether the EpiShuttle can withstand sudden drops in pressure to ensure that all components to avoid such events contaminating the wider environment
• Patient evacuation, which requires a patient to be easily evacuated within 90 seconds of an emergency – during the test, the patient was successfully extracted in just 56 seconds.

EpiShuttle passes without complaint

“The EpiShuttle went through comprehensive and challenging tests during the certification process,” says Nico Raab, Medical Operations Manager for FAI Air Ambulance. “All the test procedures were carried out without any complaint and the STC was issued and granted by the EASA.”

The news has been met positively by EpiShuttle manufacturer EpiGuard, which views the certification as an opportunity to expand the use of the EpiShuttle to other companies and aircraft.

“We are glad to see that FAI has obtained STC for the CL-600-2B16 aircraft, an excellent aircraft for the transfer of infected patients with the EpiShuttle,” says Ellen Cathrine Andersen, CEO in EpiGuard. The certification make way for STC on the CL-600 on other continents as well it also shows that it is possible for other companies and aircrafts to obtain an STC.”