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Are you enchanted by the beaches of Malaysia? Do you have family in Ireland you have wanted to visit? Did you answer yes, but are worried to take travel by plane because of an underlying medical condition?

If so, you are definitely not alone. However, there are millions of people with medical conditions, just like you, who still enjoy all the benefits that go along with travelling the world. Their secret is often hiring nursing professionals for commercial airline medical transports.

Medical Transport Services Explained

In most cases, commercial airline medical transports are designed to help those with an underlying medical issue travel from one place to another to seek treatment or to get home. However, travelling nurses aren’t available solely for these reasons. These professional nurses can also accompany patients as they travel for pleasure. This allows individuals with more serious medical conditions the freedom to travel like anyone else.

Are Medical Transport Services Needed?

You need to carefully evaluate your situation to determine if you are in need of commercial airline medical transports. For example, is it possible you could face an emergency situation while on the plane? Do you need to travel to get to a clinic or hospital where they have a new treatment or medication for your condition? If so, hiring a professional travel nurse may be just what you need.

Once you make the decision to hire these nursing professionals for commercial airline medical transports, you need to find a company that best meets your needs. The staff and services offered will shape the quality of service you receive. Don’t pick a service provider solely because the cost is low because this may leave you without the professional medical assistance you require. Take the time to find the right service provider to ensure you will be safe and well cared for.

Choosing a medical escort involves more than taking a cursory glance up the escort’s credentials. If you’re sending your elderly loved ones on a flight and they’re on their own, hiring a trustworthy and credible medical service is a must. Here are a few reminders to help you:

How experienced are they?

It’s important to hire a medical escort company that already has extensive experience in the field. Don’t stop there, though. Make sure the professional medical escorts (PMEs) employed by the company have the proper credentials and qualifications to look after the needs of your loved ones while they’re onboard a plane on a long international flight.

Are they licensed and certified?

It’s better to choose medical service companies that employ registered nurses or RNs to look after your parents if they’re flying on their own. If your loved ones are sick or require specialized assistance, these nurses are trained and experienced in providing for their needs and care during the flight, says the Huff Post.

Check their safety record

A 100 percent safety record indicates that the company delivers on its promises to ensure safe transport for its patients. If that’s the kind of service you want for your parents, then that’s a good enough reason to hire that company and get a medical escort from its team of experienced and trained PMEs.

Do they cover international flights?

Before you pick a medical escort company, make sure it offers this assistance for lenghty international flights, including the ones your parents will be booked for. Check so you know if you’re good to go or if you need to get help elsewhere.

What kind of services can you expect?

Make things clear. Ask about the services you can expect from them. Will they provide for your parents’ every single need? If that’s a no, you might want to consider hiring another service or talking it out with them. The company might provide you with helpful options to solve the problem.

Who will manage the trip?

Will it be up to you to handle every detail of the trip? Some PMEs handle the details of the flight so you won’t have to. That makes for a convenient and stress-free solution. If that’s the level of assistance you’re looking for, then look for medical escort services that include this assistance. For more information about that, get in touch with us today.

Travel is great—you get to see things you’ve never seen before, go through different sensations—from drama and excitement to anticipation—and examine how your perception expands with every new sight, sound, taste and experience. However, that could mean falling ill while on the road. Need help on that flight home? That’s where medical assistance companies come in.

Transport assistance

These companies provide travelers with a professional medical escort (PME). They have the necessary training, skill set and mindset to look over an injured or sick patient during a commercial flight. A PME typically has training in basic life support (BSL) and if necessary, can take charge of the situation to get the patient back to the hospital in case that’s necessary, states The Washington Post.

Curbside to bedside

Many medical assistance companies provide PMEs who can escort patients’ right to their homes or the hospital. Some meet with the hospital staff on the tarmac and with their luggage, watching as they wheel the patient away. They can offer both services, depending on what the patient’s needs are.

Care for injuries

If the patient is hurt and requires someone to check up on the abrasion, make sure it hasn’t bled through the bandage, to apply medication and put a new dressing in place, then a PME can handle all these things. The PMEs also ensure that the dietary needs of their patient are met during the long flight.

Mobility challenges

PMEs handle all the little details of getting the patient on and off the plane. This includes dealing with flight attendants, other passengers and offering mobility support and assistance to make sure the patient doesn’t overexert themselves and end up opening the wound or aggravating their condition.

Responsibility

One of the biggest challenges of PMEs is that they have sole responsibility for the parents under their care. That’s already a daunting thought when you’re in a hospital. But when it happens 38,000 feet above the ground, it gives new meaning to the word emergency. That’s why it’s best to choose medical escort firms that provide RNs who are fully trained in handling cases that involve basic life support assistance in case something happens.

By getting a qualified medical escort, patients have the care and assistance they need during long—and often difficult commercial flights. The next time you find yourself injured on a trip, consider hiring an RN to help you get home safe and sound through that long flight. For more information, contact us.

This medical escort by a flight nurse of Flying Nurses International is another example of the type of complicated transport the medical escort company safely arranges on a regular basis.  Each international case has its unique requirements, but with FNI’s 19 years of experience and 100% safety record, a way is found to make these transports happen. FNI has a high level of experience in international trips because they have transported patients safely to six continents and 86 countries. It is not the first time a patient’s family in some part of world has insisted the nurse spend time with them to show how grateful they are for the care their family member received in route.