I live in the middle of England and our air ambulances are operated by charities with no contribution from the Government. Our local air ambulance charity operates three Airbus EC135's, G-OMAA, G-HWAA & G-EMMA. Their website is
Midlands Air Ambulance Charity | Saving Lives by Saving Time and will make interesting reading to our American friends.
With all of the excessive costs of EU regulation, twin engine machines etc, etc they say the average cost of a mission is
£2,500.
Quote from the website:
"
Each year it costs in excess of £9 million to maintain the three aircraft and the provision of a lifesaving service. Each air ambulance mission costs an average of £2,500. The charity receives no funding from the Government or National Lottery so relies entirely on the support and generosity of local people and businesses."
The US system would appear to be spectacularly expensive and unreasonable.
(Just for clarity, I have a capitalist mindset - it would appear to me there is room for great margins between £2,500 - £40,000 per flight respectively).