VOLUNTEER MEDICAL AIR TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
Patient requirements and the history of volunteer medical air travel organizations

Volunteer medical air transportation for patients with special needs is a humanitarian service that today transports thousands of cancer patients every year, from only hundreds of patients 25 years ago.

Since the early 1980’s, Angel Flight, Corporate Angel Network, and Pilots for Patients have emerged as the leading medical air travel organizations comprised of pilots that donate their time, their planes, and their financial resources to provide air transportation for those who are financially needy or are too sick to travel on public transportation.

According to MesotheliomaHelp.net, requirements for accessing the services of volunteer medical air travel organizations vary, but most volunteer air transportation organizations request the following of the patient:

• The patient is ambulatory or has some mobility;
• The patient is medically stable and able to fly in an unpressurized plane;
• The patient or family has financial need or is unable to afford other means of commercial transportation;
• There is no other suitable or appropriate transportation available;
• The patient has received a medical diagnosis that requires treatment at a hospital specializing in that disease or ailment.

History of medical air transportation

Angel Flight is one of the original charitable flying organizations, formed by Jim Shafer, a medical professional in 1983 with 15 of his pilot friends.

In the mid-1980's, various other organizations were formed offering one to two flights per week to patients in need of medical care that was otherwise out of reach for them.

Angel Flight maintained this trend, averaging 200 flights per year through 1999. Since then, the number of flights every year has risen to more than 2,000.

Medical air transportation - support network

As the number of organizations and flights increased, so too did the need for coordination and support for the flights and the patients. Air Care Alliance (ACA) was formed in 1990 out of 19 flight organizations.

Today, there are more than 60 humanitarian flying organization members of ACA, whose pilots are dedicated to transporting the sick and their family. Each of the participating organizations operates solely through donations.

Many of the flying organizations are geographically based, sometimes making it difficult to find the appropriate organization to meet the needs of the patient.

With the assistance of ACA, the Air Charity Network (ACN), Mercy Medical Airlift (MMA), the National Patient Travel Center (NPTC) and many medical facilities, patients can often make one call to get the support requested and find the best charitable flight organization for them.

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