Medical Evacuation

Nova Assistance provides medical evacuation and repatriation services for insured persons abroad. Sometimes, after providing emergency medical care to the patient, he needs to undergo further treatment upon arrival at home.

When we can speak about medical evacuation?

Evacuation is about severe cases. For example, various injuries and fractures. Also, we can indicate here patients after surgical intervention. People with hematomas, aneurysms and other head injuries as well need special transportation after operation. Especially, if patient is non stable and need additional equipment like drop counter. Medical evacuation is about severe patients and illness so we try to organize it as quicky and perfect as possible. For such kind of work we have a special range of partners. They can react immediately even when we need to evacuate a human from Elbrus.

The decision about medical evacuation makes the attending physician together with assistance and insurance company. In consideration they get the general condition of the patient, the results of lab tests and the severity of the disease.

If a clinic decides that insured person is ready for transportation, she issues an official document – Fee to Fly. Due to this document the doctor confirms that patient will be able to fly. Nova Assistance provides services for competent medical transportation with no complications.

How are ways to evacuate a person?

If the patient needs to continue treatment at home, we will evacuate him to his homeland. We made it by a regular flight using the necessary medical equipment: stretcher, neck braces, various fixation. A regular flight takes off according to a schedule, for example, Sharm El-Sheikh – Odessa, departure at 15:30.

Or we do it with the help of air ambulance. It is an aircraft for emergency medical care. Such an airplane is equipped with a defibrillator, a device for artificial ventilation of lungs and blocks of intensive care. Such instruments allow the transportation of even the most severe patients.

By experience, we can say that medical evacuation involve not only air transport. In some cases, the patient needs transportation by land and water transport: trains, ships, ferries.

Sometimes with an insured person flies also a medical escort (the accompanying doctor or medical team). Transportation without an accompanying health worker is possible only if there is no risk of complications. For example, if the patient is stable after the operation. Or an acute chronic disease is arrested. The doctor flies with a patient if:

• the patient’s condition is not stable and needs continuous monitoring.
• the patient requires an IV (dropper) during the flight.
• if there is a risk of complications with air pressure.

In case when the patient needs transportation to another hospital, it is carried out by ambulance.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to save a person for medical reasons. In such case Nova Assistance needs to do the repatriation of body remains. In the event of the death of a person abroad, we provide repatriation services together with our partner – funeral agencies. It’s all depends on location of the body. If the insured person traveled alone, we urgently notify the relatives and coordinate further actions with them.