When medical or security emergencies strike, the difference between success and failure lies in a strong safety support system and a viable, rapidly deployable plan. As the world's largest integrated aviation and maritime provider of medical, travel, and safety services, MedAire (Booth U33) is thus a critical medical and security component of many private, charter, and commercial flight departments’ safety management systems. Through parent company International SOS, Medaire taps into a global network of more than 72,000 accredited providers in healthcare, aviation, and security to provide services for its subscribers.
At EBACE 2018, MedAire is focusing on its core: the MedLink facility in Phoenix, Arizona, which show attendees can visit through a short virtual reality tour at the company's booth. The U.S. MedLink emergency unit is housed in an emergency department at Banner University Medical Center. In the MedLink Emergency Response Center, the team of healthcare providers takes as many as 300 calls per day from aircraft and yachts around the world, where medical emergencies are taking place.
“No other group of doctors has as much aviation experience as our MedLink team. These doctors are the ones you want assisting you when you have a medical issue,” said MedAire CEO Bill Dolny. “The data we have collected about medical events allows us to do aviation health-related research, and it also drives how we develop medical kits, as well as how we train crewmembers and passengers as first responders. It’s all based on real-world experience about what really happens when people are flying.”
MedAire data shows many calls from business aviation clients are not in-flight emergencies, but rather calls when crew and passengers become sick or injured while at a destination. The company reports a total of 600 calls to its various assistance centers per day divided into in-flight medical assistance (55 percent), passenger fit-to-fly assessments (23 percent), crew support (18 percent) and other security and assistance services (4 percent).
Region-specific Solutions
With so many clients and such a diverse population MedAire has, in the past year, added two additional MedLink facilities—one in Frankfurt, Germany, and another in Beijing.
MedAire expanded its aviation services in Central Europe with in-flight and on-the-ground medical assistance in native-language German through the International SOS assistance center in Frankfurt. The company also provides crew medical training as part of an integrated solution in both English and German, in partnership with Medifan, the aviation crew medical training experts. MedAire is now working with pharmacy Römer-Apotheke in Frankfurt, a longtime partner of Medifan and Mash Gmbh, to ensure compliance with pharmaceutical regulation in the region, enabling a complete medical safety solution integrated with crew medical training and 24/7 assistance services.
“In addition to our newly expanded medical kit capabilities and partnership with Römer-Apotheke, MedAire offers localized native language solutions for airlines and business aviation customers, including 24/7 in-flight assistance, on-the-ground crew medical support, and travel security services serviced out of our Frankfurt assistance center,” said Steven Bates, managing director for Europe.
The company also has Mandarin language service out of Beijing for clients that prefer to have assistance in their native language. It originally added services through the International SOS facilities in Beijing in 2004.
Meanwhile, MedAire has recently been bringing more awareness to one of its other benefits: emotional support for crew. “We know that crews can be under tremendous pressure to perform their duty. Additionally, they can be away from their home, family and a regular support system for an extended period,” said Jean Baptiste Gruet, senior vice president of global business solutions at Workplace Options, an emotional support services provider to MedAire. “Crews that have MedAire membership have 24/7 access to referrals for these services anywhere they are located or traveling.”
