Denise Waye, founder and President of AirCARE1 presented at the recent International Travel Insurance Conference (ITIC) held in Berlin, Germany. The ITIC & Health Insurance Conferences are focused exclusively on the global travel and health insurance industry.

From underwriters to brokers, insurers to assistance companies, cost containment providers, hospitals, air ambulances and actuaries to intermediaries, ITIC events draw senior industry figures from around the globe and across the entire professional spectrum of the phenomena that is worldwide provision of travel health insurance services.

Ms. Waye’s presented twice at the Berlin event. The first presentation focused on a logistical and medically difficult patient transport of a 23 year old Australian female who had fallen four stories through a former skylight at a youth hostel in Trujillo, Peru. Ms. Waye discussed the significant hurdles that came up before and during the transport of their patient and how AirCARE1 overcame those obstacles in order to complete a successful transport to California.

Ms. Waye was also selected to present a case study at the Medical Director’s forum regarding a recent transport of a male patient who had experienced chest pain in Lima, Peru and was requested by his assistance company to be transported to the United States for cardiac care. The case study discussed the change in patient condition before his arrival at his destination and what was done to ensure the patient received the proper care.

ITIC Presentation

Presentation Transcript

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1. Medical Transport: Global Case Studies Peru- Best-laid plans diverted during transport of four-story balcony fall survivor Presented By: Denise Waye-President AirCARE1 Albuquerque, New Mexico AirCARE1
2. About AirCARE1 AirCARE1 is an air ambulance provider that owns and operates under their own fleet of aircrafts Based out of Albuquerque, New Mexico & Phoenix, Arizona
3. About AirCARE1 100% woman owned with 22+ years of practice as a critical care nurse Perfect Safety Record Years in Service 11
4. On December 20th AirCARE1 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
5. 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
6. • She was taken to a local hospital in Trujillo after the accident where she received initial treatment including surgery on her back The Situation
7. 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 crew Overnight the crew in Peru and transport the patient & family back to the U.S early the next morning
8. 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 activated our emergency response plan at this time The Diversion
9. • 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?
10. 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
11. 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, Houston Option 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 option Option 1
12. The Flight Decision
13. Issues on the ground in Peru Ground Ambulance issues Medical crew unable to go bedside Patient pain Issues
14. 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
15. The Return Home • After several weeks AirCARE1 transported the patient via commercial stretcher to back to her home in Australia
16. Collaboration of Efforts Communication Specialists Mechanics Pilots Ground Crews International Handlers Assist Company Commercial Airlines Hospitals Thank you Sharp Healthcare Ground Ambulance Transport Thank you -One Call Medical
17. Follow Up

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