like the United States, France also has been heavily affected by the Coronavirus pandemic with thousands of infected people and a rising death rate. The United States currently is at a stage where it is bringing home citizens from across the world, and air ambulance service providers will have a role to play. Of course, a lot of civil aviation vehicles will be employed for evacuation in this scenario, but there are going to be several cases that will warrant air ambulance support, especially when people are stranded in countries where healthcare is not that great. In this context, it must be noted that about 9 million US citizens live outside the country. Besides, some have crossed borders due to business compulsions and are now stuck.
Taking a Leaf from French Military Air Ambulance Services
The air ambulance was originally built to evacuate injured military personnel during the war by the French military. Recently, it was used to evacuate several patients at one go from across French borders. In essence, the air ambulance is a flying ICU; however, all the equipment is highly portable and can be assembled on demand. It is capable of hosting up to 6 people when ventilators are in play. Without ventilation, the number can go up to a 12.
The Uniqueness of the Ventilators Employed
As the air ambulance flights take off and go high up above the sea level, the blood oxygen levels drop drastically, causing huge problems to patients who are already struggling with reduced breathing capacity. The electrical turbine-powered ventilators used by the French military air ambulance flights are capable of automatically adjusting oxygen flow with altitude. It is also capable of using oxygen from the pressurized cabin and extract oxygen out of it in case the cylinders are empty. The model of these ventilators is Carefusion LTV 1200 – something that the US air ambulance industry must be aware of in the given scenario.
