(Toronto, August 1, 2017) – Fox Flight Air Ambulance, a Toronto-based international medical repatriation company, recently partnered with Johannesburg, South Africa-based Awesome Air Evac to complete an epic 9,680-mile wing-to-wing patient transfer. The mission, which originated in Johannesburg, saw the two air ambulance operators combine to complete a journey made up of eight individual flight legs touching down in six different countries before terminating some 22 hours later in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. The incredible logistical challenges of the transfer were compounded by the fact the patient was categorized as high-risk, requiring oxygen ventilation throughout.
”“In order to complete a complex mission like this you have to have complete confidence in your wing-to-wing partner,”
Shane MaraisAwesome Air Evac
“We specialize in international patient transfer, so we’re no strangers to long flights, but this mission was especially complicated,” said Aaron Payne, director of communications for Fox Flight. “We had to work closely with Awesome Air Evac to make sure the handover in Tenerife was smooth. And both dispatch teams had to arrange landing, Customs and refueling at airports in various jurisdictions at various times around the clock to keep the transfer moving. Due to the patient’s condition, we couldn’t afford to have any delays along the way.” In addition to two pilots on each of the Learjet air ambulances, the patient was accompanied by a physician and a critical care nurse or paramedic on every leg of the journey, added Payne.
For Awesome Air Evac, which celebrated its first anniversary in business this past July, it was the company’s first wing-to-wing patient transfer. “In order to complete a complex mission like this you have to have complete confidence in your wing-to-wing partner,” said Shane Marais, general manager of Awesome Air Evac. “The fact we were able to combine our resources to complete this mission is a testament to the skill and professionalism of both organizations.”
The Awesome Air Evac jet departed from Johannesburg on the first leg of the transfer at around 2:30 a.m. local time. The plane made its first refueling stop about three and half hours later in Luanda, Angola. After about 30 minutes on the ground, the crew took off on the second leg to Accra, Ghana. From Accra, the Awesome Air Evac Lear made a stopover in Dakar, Senegal, before heading to Tenerife in the Canary Islands for its rendezvous with the Fox Flight air crew and medical team. As soon as the patient was safely transferred, the Fox Flight air ambulance took off on the first leg of its journey, and the fifth in the transfer, to the Azores in the central Atlantic. After refueling there, the Fox Flight crew proceeded to St. John’s, Newfoundland. Leg seven of the journey took the Fox Flight crew back for a brief stopover at their home base in Toronto. The final leg, number eight in total, took the patient from Toronto to Kansas City where they were transferred to a local hospital. The Fox Flight jet touched down in Kansas City at about 2:00 a.m. local time, which caused some logistical problems for the company dispatcher. “We had to contact US Customs and make special arrangements to land at that time and process all the required paperwork, but there was no other way to do it,” said Payne.
About Fox Flight:
Founded in 1997, Fox Flight Inc. is a Canadian air ambulance company providing international, 24-hour, emergency medical transport, bed-to-bed stretcher evacuation and onboard patient transfer services on commercial flights. Fox Flight has its head office and hangar facilities in Toronto. The company employs a staff of fully licensed physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists, as well as highly experienced pilots and aviation maintenance technicians. Fox Flight’s fleet of dedicated, fixed-wing air ambulances consists of specially configured Lear 35A and 36A jets equipped with the latest in advanced intensive care medical technology. Fox Flight maintains full EURAMI accreditation.
About Awesome Air Evac:
Awesome Air Evac offers fixed-wing air ambulance services covering the whole of Africa, its surrounding islands, Europe and the Middle-East. Based at Lanseria International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, and utilising dedicated long-range jet air ambulances, Awesome Air Evac is capable of flying a wide range of patients. Awesome Air Evac has an average dispatch time of two hours and utilizes experienced flight doctors and nurses and advanced life support paramedics. Awesome Air Evac also provides medically escorted repatriation of patients on commercial airlines internationally. Awesome Air Evac can assist with all facets of repatriation, including pre-flight assessments, flight arrangements, ground transport, airport clinics and airline medical clearances.
Media Inquiries:
Fox Flight Inc.
200 Evans Ave., Ste. 201
Toronto, Ontario
M8Z 1J7
Email: frank.condron@foxflight.com
(A high-res image is available upon request)
