Medevac's How to designate on ATC FPL

[Gambit76116]

Some questions here.
1.) Is ferrying for a Medevac considered Medevac?
My understanding is that if flight is NACA 5 or higher then yes the trip to pick up the patient is also considred Medevac. Naca 4 and lower it is considered normal.
2.) What is the correct way to designate Medevac on ATC FPL?
What I do is put STS/HOSP, For Germany only as requreied by them I use RMK/AMBULANCE FLIGHT
If some one can clear this out with actual ICAO regulations much apreciated.
We do a lot of Medevac's and this will help a lot.
Thanks
Dammika.J

[Mike_Retired_ATC]

Gambit this may or not help you: In the US aircraft/helocopters can use the Medivac (Lifeguard, example LN343VH) call sign even though the may not have a patient on board. The majority of the time pilots will tell us when they are not performing a Medivac/Lifeguard flight so we will put a comment in the remarks section of the flightplan.

[Gambit76116]

Thanks for that, Most of our flight are from the middle east to Europe, So what Im really interested in is what euro control, CFMU and other local ATC's guys think of this.

To me it seems logical that an air ambulance whether going to pick up a patient or having a patient onboard should have the same priority based on the patients condition. (NACA score)

Though we don't practice this in reality, It is also logical that most ambulance flight we do are long haul and are preplanned so that the patients actually don't leave the ICU's until A/C's are on the ground ready to receive them.

But there are times when we have failled to cordinate this and had a dying patient on the ambulance on the ground waiting for the air ambulance to land, and we are unable to get through to the A/C.

If any one has some hard facts on regulations on Air ambulance rights ICAO or JAA much appreciated.

This will help some more people.

Thanks

[Gambit76116]

Just out of curiosity, What remark do you use in the US to designate an ambulnce flight?

[Mike_Retired_ATC]

Gambit,

Air ambulances in the US have the letters LN in for the first two letters of their call sign. Like you guys medivac aircraft get priority handling, basically we short cut their routes when possible, and make them first in the approach/departure sequence.

What I discovered was that some pilots that were only deadheading were still using their Life Guard call signs which afforded them prioity when they didn't need it, so I started asking the pilots what the nature of their patient was (critical, organ transfer, medical transfer, or dead heading home, etc.).

If the aircraft was dead heading I would put a remark in the flight plan "No Patient on board", or if it was an Organ transfer which is time critical I would put "Critical Organ transfer", or "Critical Patient on board" so that controllers down the road would know what level of priority to afford the aircraft.

I've seen controllers at Atlanta and Chicago give medivac/air ambulances direct to the initial arrival fix in front of all the other arrivals, and I've seen enroute facilities coordinate flights through restricted areas because a critical patient was on board and the aircraft needed to get to their destination as fast as possible, and I've pulled aircraft out of the arrival sequence to squeeze in a medivac/air ambulance flight.

[jtor]

2) STS/HOSP is the most common I have seen. In my unit we anyway confirm the actual status on initial contact. So if it's a Medevac we trend to arrange as good direct routings as possible meaning a lot more phone coordination.

[unbeg2b]

hi,did some time as an AIS officer,in the ifps zone sts/hosp suffices in field 18 of fpl thus ensuring fpl atfm exempt

[Gambit76116]

Thanks Guys...
That's what we usually do
STS/HOSP (for all euro area's)
RMK/Ambulance flight (When we're In/Out bound from germany as German controllers ask for it as such)
STS/ HOSP AND RMK/ATFMEXEPAPPROVED (When Patient NACA V status or above)
I usually add a remark if the patient is an Infant, Like RMK/ Patient Infant; Can't help it.