Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre on Tuesday signed an agreement with Deccan Aviation, which operates the budget carrier Air Deccan, to launch 'Air Rescue One,' the country's first dedicated air ambulance that is equipped to deliver critical care to patients even at 10,000 ft in the sky.
While Deccan Aviation would provide eight helicopters and two fixed-wing aircraft, besides full logistical and ground support, EHIRC would be responsible for total medical rescue operation and equipment.
"It is going to be a concerted effort from two leaders in the field of medical evacuation services," Capt. Gopinath, managing director, Deccan Aviation said.
But the cost of the service, pegged at Rs 45,000-50,000 for an hour's flight and Rs 30,000 as fixed medical charges, is currently out of reach of the common man.
However, Gopinath said he was in talks with a general insurance firm to work out a policy to cover air ambulance costs, which would drastically reduce the costs.
"Once the policy is in place, the premium would work out to be as low as Rs 2,000 making it affordable to the common man," he said.
"As the number of policies increase, the premium cost would drop further...we are looking at Rs 1,000 mark," EHIRC executive director Naresh Trehan said.
While EHIRC has been chartering aircraft to ferry patients from distant locations for several years now, it has been an ad hoc effort that consumes a lot of time and money.
Trehan said earlier a lot of time used to be wasted in finding an aircraft and getting necessary clearances and hoped that with Air Rescue One in place, their response time would be much quicker.
Gopinath said he was also talking to the Civil Aviation Ministry to permit construction of a helipad near the hospital in the national capital to enable quick transfer of the patient, as landing at the airport would mean losing crucial time.
The ambulance would carry a medical crew comprising of a cardiologist, trained anaesthetist/critical care expert, ICU nurse and a cardiac surgeon (as and when required).
Under the agreement signed by the two sides, the air ambulance service would cater to all Fortis Healthcare institutions, including EHIRC, Fortis Healthcare chairman Harpal Singh said.
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