Bedside to Bedside Service

 

The AeroMD team prides itself on providing bedside to bedside service for emergency transports. For patients and their companions, this service standard can make a life-saving difference by enabling continuity of care. It also enhances the patient experience, instilling confidence that no vital information about their case or condition may be lost transitioning between multiple medical teams.  

In sum, bedside to bedside service means the AeroMD medical team meets a patient and their companion at their originating hospital and does not leave their side until they are safely admitted to the destination medical facility.

Flight medics with AeroMD transfer a patient from Soldiers of the 602nd Area Support Medical Company, 261st Multifunctional Medical Battalion, 44th Medical Brigade, Fort Bragg, N.C., during a medical evacuation in response to Hurricane Irma on Saint Thoma
MM8TFH Flight medics with AeroMD transfer a patient from Soldiers of the 602nd Area Support Medical Company, 261st Multifunctional Medical Battalion, 44th Medical Brigade, Fort Bragg, N.C., during a medical evacuation in response to Hurricane Irma on Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Sept. 15, 2017. Members of the 602nd ASMC arrived on Saint Thomas within 24 hours of notification to provide triage, a variety of medical treatments, and pre-evacuation care. The Department of Defense conducts Defense Support of Civil Authorities operations to assist civilian responders in saving lives, relieving human
bedside to bedside transfer

In detail, the process entails AeroMD team members meeting a patient at their bedside in the hospital at which they initially arrive. The attending hospital team briefs the medevac team on the patient’s case so that they can provide consistent care throughout the medical transport. AeroMD nurses and respiratory therapists then escort the patient from the emergency room or intensive care unit of the originating hospital through the ambulance ride to the airport. From that point, the same medical professionals continue bedside to bedside service, joining the flight crew to load the patient stretcher onto the aircraft safely.

AeroMD team members complete the flight alongside the patient and their companion, adjusting medical equipment as needed throughout the flight based on the patient’s evolving condition. The same team members keep the patient’s companion informed. An on-board laboratory allows for in-depth monitoring of the patient’s ongoing condition in-flight. Based on those results, an on-board pharmacy enables the strategic use of numerous life-saving medications. Upon arrival, the same medical team helps the patient disembark the aircraft and accompanies them on the ambulance ride to the destination medical facility. AeroMD professionals brief the receiving medical team on the patient’s case and what occurred during the flight, including any necessary interventions, medications, and dosages

In interviews that followed months after their successful emergency flights, AeroMD patients and their companions have positively commented about bedside to bedside service. They cited it was nice to see the same familiar faces during a critical and often frightening time. AeroMD patients felt assured they were in good hands, with professionals that would see their medevac process through to its auspicious completion

The continuity of care is of the utmost importance at AeroMD. After completing more than 1600 successful medical airlift missions since 2005 and the thousands of ground transports that accompanied those flights, the AeroMD team values bedside to bedside service to significantly improve patient care.

 

AeroMD Air Ambulance serves our neighbors throughout the Caribbean and worldwide.

  • “My best case for survival was to be taken off-island.”

    Charles Jaquays, AeroMD Patient

  • “You guys saved [my husband's] life.”

    Eileen des Jardins, Patient Companion

  • “If it wasn't for [AeroMD], I wouldn't be here today.”

    Hayley Rodriguez, AeroMD Patient