European Air Ambulance (EAA) Offers Rapid Response for Medical Flights Out of West Africa

Jan 26, 2011 10:27 AM

European Air Ambulance (EAA) will now dedicate an air ambulance aircraft in Accra, Ghana, starting in February, 2011. The aircraft will include a crew comprising of a flight physician and flight nurse/paramedic.

The decision was taken to meet the requirements of several clients whose ex-patriot customers live and work in West Africa. Many of them have jobs in high-risk industries such as oil, mining and infrastructure development, and also face daily health and safety concerns such as malaria and unsafe roads. Should they fall victim to an accident or contract a disease, they have so far had to rely on air ambulance operators flying to Africa from Europe. This often meant delay, especially if the crew had to take an obligatory rest upon arrival in Africa.

EAA has recognized the need for a rapid response to evacuate patients from West Africa either to Europe or, where appropriate, to the nearest specialist medical facility in cities such as Johannesburg or Nairobi.

The Accra base will allow EAA to offer a better service to clients and, crucially, to save more lives and improve medical care for patients. EAA will be able to provide a fast response for medical evacuation out of West Africa with solutions ranging from Mauritania to Angola to any place requested within Africa, to Europe, the U.S. or any other place worldwide.

EAA members DRF Luftrettung and Luxembourg Air Ambulance will supply the aircraft on a rotation basis. This will allow the scheduled maintenance of the aircraft to be conducted at EAA’s dedicated and contracted premises in Germany and Luxembourg.

The crew, who will also be based in Accra on rotation, will include a flight physician and flight nurse/paramedic from the highly experienced, multilingual teams currently used on EAA missions.

www.air-ambulance.com

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