capt tosspot
4th Jan 2010, 20:11
Any paediatric experts out there who can give any first thoughts on use of a UK based fixed wing for incubator / paeds transfer. I am thinking of a fully roled machine not a swop from corporate to medical. ie able to respond within 2 hrs.
Is there a market in UK (I dont know if time saving would be great as would have to be airport to airport).
Is there a market for Europe to UK or vice versa. Would need to be looking at around 700 hrs a year to start paying commercially or maybe less if it was charity run
I shall toss the baton over to those who know. I am happy with the aeroplane side but no idea on the medical side.
Thanks,
DX Wombat
4th Jan 2010, 20:28
Most air transfers of Neonates in the UK are emergencies and usually facilitated by ARCC at Kinloss. The RFDS in West Australia uses Pilatus PC12s and Beech Kingairs for transfers. Both types of aircraft have to be multipurpose adult/child/neonate passengers. May I suggest you contact them as they are the real experts in medevacs? The RFDS Western Section (http://www.rfds.info/) covers the greatest area. Peter Northover used to be the General Manager but I'm not sure if he still is - he may have retired by now.
You also need to look at whether or not you are providing the incubator. If you are, then it must have a means of anchorage compatible with standard ambulance fittings. The CAA should be able to advise you about their safety requirements.
The weight of such incubators before any essential medical equipment is added to them is considerable - from memory the Draeger transport incubator weighs 15 stones or more. I'm not sure what the Vickers equivalent weighs. Hope this helps.
xj8driver
10th Jan 2010, 10:20
From a commercial point of view I would think it's a non-starter; most UK regions have Special Care Baby Units (SCBUs), and would only need long-distance transfer if there were no vacancies in that area.
Moreover, once a baby is stabilised for transfer, there would be little, if any, advantage in an airborne medevac; most would go by road with a police escort. Should they require urgent specialist treatment, say at GOSH, again, they would not be moved until they were fit (read stable enough) for the journey. Depending on the condition, flying could also be the unhealthier of the two modes of transport (in terms of altitude, stress, etc.)
I know of one company that provides 'private' medical flights, mainly in transporting transplant teams it must be said, and they are very quiet at the moment. I therefore think your target of 700 hours would be unachievable.
Hope this helps