Thirty-five years ago this month, Advanced Air Ambulance flew its first patient out of Miami. We marked the thirtieth anniversary in June 2020, in the middle of a pandemic that reshaped medical travel almost overnight. Five years on, this is where we stand.
What the last five years asked of us
The pandemic put infectious-disease transport at the center of the work. Isolation units, protective equipment for flight and ground crews, and extended decontamination after each mission became routine. The lessons stayed with us after the emergency passed: every aircraft is still disinfected and sterilized after every mission, whatever the diagnosis.
International missions along the corridors connecting the US and Europe with Africa, the Middle East, and Asia carried on through those years, with permits, fuel, ground handling, and customs still arranged by our own team, so a family deals with one coordinator from the first call to the receiving ward.
What has not changed
The dispatch office is staffed around the clock, every day of the year, and a flight coordinator answers live. The quote is one all-inclusive figure covering aircraft, medical crew, and ground ambulance at both ends. The medical crews hold ACLS and Aviation Physiology certification and train to the U.S. DOT Air Medical Crew National Standard Curriculum under medical-director oversight. The pilots are ATP-rated with more than 3,000 flight hours. And after thousands of missions, the safety record remains zero accidents or incidents.
The next five years
The standard is the same one we set in 1990: the right aircraft, the right crew, and no surprises for the family. To the clinicians, pilots, and coordinators who hold that standard every day, and to the hospitals, insurers, agencies, and families who trust us with it, thank you.
If you need us, call +1-800-633-3590. Someone will answer.