Medical Transport: Global Case Studies

Peru- Best-laid plans diverted during transport of four-story balcony fall survivor

Presented By:Denise Waye-PresidentAirCARE1 International

Albuquerque, New Mexico

AirCARE1 International

About AirCARE1 International

AirCARE1 International is an air ambulance provider that owns and operates under their own fleet of

aircrafts Based out of Albuquerque, New Mexico & Phoenix,

Arizona

About AirCARE1 International

100% woman ownedwith 22+ years of

practice as a critical care nurse

Perfect Safety Record

Years in Service

11

On December 20th AirCARE1 International received a call from an assist company to evacuate 23 year old Australian female patient from Trujillo, Peru to the United States for medical treatment

The Call

The Situation

• The patient had been backpacking throughout Peru

• She had fallen 43 meters through a hole in the roof (skylight) at a local hostel

• She sustained life threatening injuries from the fall

• She was taken to a local hospital in Trujillo after the accident where she received initial treatment including surgery on her back

The Situation

The Plan

Obtain the necessary permits and overflights to fly the aircraft to

Trujillo, Peru with a technical stop in San Jose, Costa Rica

Activate the crewOvernight the crew in Peru and

transport the patient & family back to the U.S early the next morning

The aircraft took off and made its stop in Costa Rica then departed for Peru on schedule

~2 hours after the aircraft departed Costa Rica, our communication center received a call from Costa Rica center, stating the aircraft had turned around and was returning back to Costa Rica-reason unknown • Our supervisor called Costa

Rica center to obtain more information but was unsuccessful

We had to wait over 1 ½ hours until the aircraft landed back in Costa Rica to find out what had happened• AirCARE1

International activated our emergency response plan at this time

The Diversion

• Diverted out of Columbian airspace with a heading given of due west

• Low fuel became an issue

• Had to return to Costa Rica

What Happened?

We Now Had A Problem

Due to the diversion, the crew

was unable to continue to Peru

Shortly after returning to Costa

Rica, the flight crew ran out of

duty time

Unable to fly from Costa Rica/

Peru/Costa Rica and then change

out pilots in Phoenix, AZ as

planned

What are the Options?

• Duty off our pilots in Costa Rica, fly them to Trujillo, Peru and then fly to a destination in the United States where we could change out pilots• Which city in the U.S. do we change out pilots?

• Options: Brownsville, Corpus Christi, HoustonOption 3

• Call another service to complete a portion of the flight• No other service was availableOption 2

• Duty off our pilots in Costa Rica, fly them to Trujillo, Peru and then duty them off again• This would significantly delay our patient pick up• We felt due to the seriousness of our patient this was not an

optionOption 1

The Flight Decision

Issues on the ground in Peru

Ground Ambulance

issues

Medical crew

unable to go bedside

Patient pain Issues

The Return

• Patient was transported from Trujillo, Peru to Houston, Texas via San Jose, Costa Rica

• Second set of pilots flew commercial to Houston and met aircraft

• Patient was transported to San Diego, CA and admitted to Sharp Healthcare where she stayed for several weeks

The Return Home• After several weeks

AirCARE1 International transported the patient via commercial stretcher to back to her home in Australia

Collaboration of Efforts

Communication SpecialistsMechanics

PilotsGround Crews

International Handlers

Assist CompanyCommercial Airlines

HospitalsThank you Sharp Healthcare

Ground Ambulance TransportThank you -One Call Medical

Follow Up