It is natural that you only want the best for your loved ones. When an elderly relative has to travel from one place to another, you might face the dilemma of whether you should be hiring air ambulance services or not. In the absence of a directive from a qualified medical professional, air ambulance services might not be covered by your insurance or Medicare. Bearing the huge cost of air ambulance services is not something every individual can bear. In circumstances like these, you must consider medical escort services, which are cost effective. However, a medical escort is not best suited in all situations.
Can Medical Escorts Substitute Air Ambulance Services?
There cannot be a one-word answer to this question. First criterion to avail a medical escort service is that the patient should be deemed medically stable by a qualified medical professional. An unstable patient might need to be carried utilizing air ambulance services only.
If the patient needs only basic medical management such as administration of medicines, oxygen and monitoring, air ambulance services might not be warranted at all. Such services can be provided by a medical escort.
Are Air Ambulance Services and Medical Escort Services Similar?
Of course, you won’t have a fully equipped air ambulance at your disposal and the number of qualified personnel at your service would be limited. However, there are still a lot of similarities and this is one of the reasons why most air ambulance service providers also offer medical escort services. The coordination for bed to bed transfer is often taken care of. This involves coordinating with both sending and receiving hospitals as well as ground transport facilities.
Most medical escorts know the local language of the destination that you travel to. They also possess high level of experience having worked in emergency situations. So, even if you are travelling with a single medical escort, you are still in safe hands. Also, there is a huge cost difference when compared to air ambulance services. However, one needs to remember that in case of emergencies, medical escort services are never a substitute.
