Air Medical Ltd

Air Medical Ltd, or AirMed as it is better known, is the largest fixed-wing UK based air ambulance

Air ambulance

An air ambulance is an aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional ambulance cannot reach the scene easily or quickly enough, or the patient needs to be transported over a distance or terrain that makes air transportation the most practical transport....

 specialist and also provides passenger or freight charter. AirMed is a commercial aircraft operator and as such can be defined under airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

. It is based at London Oxford Airport.

History

AirMed is a private limited company

Limited company

A limited company is a company in which the liability of the members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. And the former of these, a limited company limited by shares, may be...

 which is family owned and was set up in 1985 by Mr Rod Paris. The company originally carried out a wide variety of air charter

Air charter

Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft as opposed to individual aircraft seats...

 including passenger, freight and air ambulance as well as organ transplant

Organ transplant

Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...

 work and aerial photography

Aerial photography

Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...

. In the earlier years the number of flights completed each year was anywhere between 500 and 1000, however the split of work was approximately 50% air ambulance and 50% passenger/freight.

The company was bought out in 2003 by the Topliss and Dent families, thereby retaining its family owned limited company status. Since then over $12million has been invested in new aircraft

Fixed-wing aircraft

A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...

, medical equipment

Medical equipment

Medical equipment is designed to aid in the diagnosis, monitoring or treatment of medical conditions.-Types:There are several basic types:* Diagnostic equipment includes medical imaging machines, used to aid in diagnosis...

 and personnel. During this time the aircraft fleet has completely changed and the capabilities of the company have increased considerably. AirMed now specialise almost entirely in air ambulance and medevac

MEDEVAC

Medical evacuation, often termed Medevac or Medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to the wounded being evacuated from the battlefield or to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of an accident to receiving medical facilities using...

 work and currently over 75% of its work is air ambulance and during peak seasons this could be as high as 90%.

AirMed Engineering first gained approval in 2002 and since then has become EASA

European Aviation Safety Agency

The European Aviation Safety Agency is an agency of the European Union with offices in Cologne, Germany, which has been given regulatory and executive tasks in the field of civilian aviation safety. It was created on 15 July 2002, and it reached full functionality in 2008, taking over functions...

 Part 145 Part M approved. It is also a Cessna

Cessna

The Cessna Aircraft Company is an airplane manufacturing corporation headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Their main products are general aviation aircraft. Although they are the most well known for their small, piston-powered aircraft, they also produce business jets. The company is a subsidiary...

 Authorised Service Facility and Parts Supplier. AirMed Engineering has become a maintenance organisation specialising in Cessna Caravan C208s as well as Piper, Lycoming

Lycoming Engines

Lycoming Engines is a U.S. aircraft engine company, known primarily for its general aviation engines. For most of its history Lycoming has been part of the AVCO group as AVCO Lycoming. In 1987 AVCO was purchased by Textron to become Textron Lycoming...

, Honeywell

Honeywell

Honeywell International, Inc. is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....

 and Pratt & Whitney.
AirMed operates in accordance with Air Operators Certificate (AOC) number GB1171 which is certified by the Civil Aviation Authority(CAA).

Aircraft Fleet

AirMed currently operates a fleet of 9 aircraft:

• 2 Bombardier Learjet 35A's

• 2 Piper Cheyenne IIIA's

• 2 Piper Cheyenne IIXL's
  Piper PA-31T Cheyenne
  -See also:-References:*Taylor, John W.R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976-77. London:Jane's Yearbooks, 1976, ISBN 0-354-00538-3.-External links:*...
  
  

• 1 Piper Navajo Chieftain
  Piper PA-31 Navajo
  The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engine aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also licence-built in a number of Latin American countries. Targeted at small-scale cargo and feeder liner operations and...
  
  

• 2 Piper Seneca III's

Affiliations

AirMed holds 'Special Care' accreditation from the European Aero-Medical Institute.
AirMed are fully registered with England's Care Quality Commission

Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England. This includes services provided by the NHS, local authorities, private companies and voluntary organisations -...

 (CQC) as a private ambulance provider.
The majority of AirMed's medical team that work on board the aircraft are clinicians at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust

John Radcliffe Hospital

The John Radcliffe Hospital is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England.It is the main teaching hospital for Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University. As such, it is a well-developed centre of medical research. It also incorporates the Medical School of the University of Oxford....

. These include specialists in anaesthestics, neonatology

Neonatology

Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics that consists of the medical care of newborn infants, especially the ill or premature newborn infant. It is a hospital-based specialty, and is usually practiced in neonatal intensive care units...

, paediatrics, cardiology

Cardiology

Cardiology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the heart . The field includes diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology...

 and intensive care.