REPATRIATION FOR PATIENTS
Friedrichshafen, Germany – Help often comes from the air! International aviation ambulance services are the main topic on the agenda of the 1st European Air Ambulance Meeting held in conjunction with AERO 2010. The international trade magazine 4RESCUE, which focuses on the topic of air rescue, is offering the global show for general aviation (April 8-11, 2010) in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance a platform for exchanging information among organizations and specialists in the area of air rescue, including manufacturers and designers of all the medical equipment on board the aircraft and insurance companies. Ambulance aircraft are generally business aviation flights that have been modified for transporting patients.
“AERO Friedrichshafen is the leading European trade show for general aviation and thus the ideal platform for a European air ambulance conference,” says AERO Project Manager Thomas Grunewald. Many companies that already take part in AERO as exhibitors could also become major players and partners in the air ambulance sector, according to Grunewald. Moreover, the trade show venue in the tri-border area of Austria, Switzerland and Germany enjoys a strategic location at the heart of Europe.
In the health care sector, transporting patients back to their home countries is called repatriation. This is a service that is offered by companies, organizations, tour operators, rescue service companies, airlines and insurance providers. In most cases this concerns travelers who, for health reasons, are not able to continue their journey. As the worldwide tourist industry continues to expand, this service has rapidly gained importance and exhibited exponential growth over the past few years. Tour operators traditionally offer their customers a combination of individual insurance packages. The risk involved is generally transferred to insurance companies. Some of these firms have specialized in offering insurance packages for worldwide patient repatriations.
Details on the Air Ambulance Meeting and AERO 2010 are available at www.aero-expo.com.
