LifeFlight to meet demand for cross-Pacific transfers

LifeFlight has fine-tuned its regional service offering with improved flight planning capabilities and technology advancements in its Communications, Coordination and Control Centre (C3).

LifeFlight Manager of Commercial Partnerships, Tyson Smith, said missions that would historically take 24 to 48 hours to arrange and get permits can be executed much faster – sometimes by up to 50%.

“Our focus on implementing a more integrated flight planning and mission coordination software has resulted in a significant reduction in set-up and coordination times for cross-country transports,” he said. “This results in our teams getting to the patients quicker, leading to better overall patient outcomes.”

LifeFlight’s Challenger 604 aircraft has a number of interchangeable cabin components that can be configured based on the mission needs and requirements.

The aircraft is always in a dual stretcher configuration that allows the service to be airborne within 90 minutes of receiving an activation call for domestic and international locations throughout the APAC Region.

“Our strong relationships with Civil Aviation Authorities throughout the APAC region enable us to secure blanket operating and landing clearances for our operations throughout the year,” Smith said. “These logistical arrangements provide us with the ability to offer our clients reliable mission timeframes and schedules early in the planning stage.

Our strong relationships
with Civil Aviation Authorities
throughout the APAC region
enable us to secure blanket
operating and landing
clearances for our operations
throughout the year

"Over the past year, we have observed a steady increase in requests for our services to transport patients and their family members from the Asia-Pacific region back to the US mainland,” he added. “These challenging transports enable us to continually refine and enhance our robust capabilities for long-range patient transfers."

Complicated transfers

Transfers from the APAC region to the US are logistically more complex to arrange and manage due to the limited land mass between ports.

This geographic reality restricts flight route options, as there are fewer suitable airports available for fuel stops and crew swaps compared to routes from APAC to Europe.

LifeFlight Medical Director, Dr Jeff Hooper, said a crucial aspect of perfecting the long-range intercontinental patient transfer was ensuring that onboard critical care doctors and nurses are trained to the highest standards. LifeFlight is committed to expanding its aeromedical training program into Singapore and across Asia. The initiative aims to upskill doctors and nurses in the highly specialised fields of jet air ambulance retrievals and inter-hospital transfers.

These interactions provide an opportunity for the teams to discuss the unique geographical environments and challenges associated with performing air ambulance transfers in different regions.

“We are committed to upskilling doctors both regionally and internationally. This course is designed to better prepare medical professionals for the realities of pre-hospital retrieval medicine by exposing them to high-pressure scenarios,” Dr Hooper said.

More than 180 medical professionals in Australia call LifeFlight an employer of choice. Before commencing as LifeFlight critical care doctors, they must undergo a rigorous training programme, which includes comprehensive training at the company's registered training organisation, LifeFlight Training Academy.

During employment, doctors also undertake regular clinical training, based on the situations faced by their teams in the field, to ensure skills are of the highest standard and patients receive a world-class level of care.

LifeFlight is recognised as one of the world leaders in aeromedical care, offering longdistance, multi-patient jet air ambulance solutions from bases on two continents. Its fleet includes four of the longest-range medically configured aircraft in the APAC area.

Last year, LifeFlight's air ambulance fleet transported 520 patients and logged over 1,400 flying hours. Its jets were dispatched to various locations including the Middle East, India, North and Southern Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the US mainland. The longest continuous mission carried out by the teams lasted 34.9 hours, with a patient onboard for 16 of those hours.

LifeFlight’s fixed wing fleet is the only service of its kind in Australia to be officially recognised by EURAMI, and one of only three to gain accreditation in the Asia Pacific region.

LifeFlight won the ITIJ Air Ambulance of the Year Award in 2023.