Development of EAA’s neonatal aeromedical service
European Air Ambulance (EAA), which provides worldwide medical repatriation services, has announced that it is now to have a certified neonatal crew on standby on the duty roster every day – ensuring paediatric life support services are available when they most needed
EAA states that neonatal emergency medical services (EMS), especially in terms of aeromedical transport, can often present one of the biggest challenges to medical services providers, but thanks to this recent development, a paediatrician specialised in neonatology and a flight nurse with Advanced Paediatric Life Support training can be on hand at the airport within one hour of a mission being activated.
“Transporting young patients is challenging both medically and logistically, and for many assistance companies it can take several days to call in the most qualified medics and assemble the appropriate equipment,” said Patrick Schomaker, Director Sales & Marketing at EAA. After listening to feedback from clients, EAA has made changes to streamline this process.
The five dedicated air ambulance aircraft are now ready for the loading of state-of-the-art equipment that replicates a neonatal intensive care unit, including two travel incubators.
“Young children and babies have a special place in our hearts, and we put particular emphasis on our neonatal and paediatric aeromedical transport services,” Schomaker added. “This change will further improve the services we offer our smallest and most important passengers, as we feel we simply can’t let these VIP patients wait!”