A Canadian is hospitalized abroad, and after the first medical stabilization, the next big question is: how do I get back home to Canada?
Having travel insurance with coverage for medical repatriation is Gold, but for the many Canadian families each year who have to self-organize a medical repatriation, the task can be quite overwhelming. A Google-search about medical repatriation will pull up a wide variety of companies. One of the terms that will pop up is “commercial medical escort”.
Here are 10 common questions families ask us when preparing for a medical repatriation to Alberta.
1. What is a Commercial Medical Escort?
The term refers to a licensed healthcare professional working in a medical transport role – typically a nurse, paramedic, respiratory therapist, or physician – who accompanies the patient on a commercial flight and provides patient care throughout the journey. But the flight is only one part of the journey. Patient care starts at the bedside, continues on the way to and inside airports and ends when the patient arrives at the final destination – that can be a hospital, a care home or the patient’s residence.
2. Can I hire any nurse for the role of a Commercial Medical Escort?
That would be risky. When a reputable company is organizing a medical transfer, the medical escort is never left alone transporting the patient. In the background, a system is in place to ensure the mission runs smoothly: the medical escort is equipped with specialized gear and various medications. There is a transport physician who is responsible for the patient while traveling between point A and point B. There are a variety of liabilities that are covered by the company’s insurance. There are protocols and standard operating procedures in place. There is a network of assistance partners in different countries on standby for local support. And there are case coordinators who troubleshoot and communicate with airlines, hospitals, and third-party service providers in real-time. It takes a team to complete a medical repatriation mission successfully. Not just one nurse.
3. How quickly can a medical escort to Alberta be arranged?
We can dispatch a medical escort to pick up a patient overseas within hours. But first, the patient needs to be stable enough to travel. And the family needs to be ready to activate the mission, pay upfront, and have a plan for when the patient arrives in Alberta. We will request a medical report from the hospital overseas, and often, a hospital bed needs to be secured with Alberta Health Services before the patient is moved. Once these steps are complete, the medical escort will be given the green light to fly out and retrieve the patient.
After arriving at the destination, the medical escort typically rests for one night and turns around with the patient the next day. Delays can occur when flights are not immediately available, if the patient has a relapse, or if it is not yet clear where the patient is going upon arrival in Alberta.
4. When is a patient fit to fly after a medical emergency overseas?
Patients who are hospitalized abroad often want to get home as soon as possible to continue their recovery in a familiar environment under provincial health coverage. However, transport is only justifiable when the patient is stable, and the risk of travel-related complications has been reduced to a minimum. Stabilization can include procedures like surgery, blood transfusion, treatment with IV medication, or simply allowing additional time for the body to heal.
5. Who decides which hospital the patient will go to?
For Albertans who need to be transferred from an overseas hospital to a hospital in Alberta, the province has a specialized department that triages cases from all over the world and finds a bed and an accepting physician. The place of residence will be taken into consideration. For example, a Calgary resident will not be hospitalized in Edmonton. Other factors are, of course, the specialty and type of bed the patient needs, and availability in different hospitals. Once a bed is assigned, it is only held for a short period of time, while the patient is on the way.
It’s not the same process when a patient is discharged by the hospital overseas. That’s not considered a hospital-to-hospital transfer. Upon arrival in Alberta, the patient may either go home and contact a family doctor, or the patient may be brought to an Emergency Department close to home, for reassessment, and sometimes re-admission or discharge planning in the provincial health care system.
6. Can I use my already paid-for return tickets to go back home?
It depends. The medical escort company will always consider bringing the cost down by changing existing flights and using any unused airline credits. But other factors are equally important: specific routing, type of aircraft, seating or accommodations. For the safety and comfort of the patient, the return to Alberta may look very different from what was originally booked. As an example, patients are rarely transported on ultra-low-cost carriers or leisure charters, even if the patient bought a return trip as part of a package deal. Also, during peak travel seasons, flights to and from popular holiday destinations are generally packed, leaving limited options available for last-minute bookers. Inevitably, a medical repatriation mission is often activated at short notice.
7. How does the patient get from a hospital overseas to their home community in Alberta?
Patients are not always picked up at a hospital. Medical escorts meet their patients at a wide variety of locations, including hotels, RV-parks, private residences and care homes. The medical escort starts by doing a pre-flight assessment and goes over the transport plan, medication and answers last minute questions that might arise.
A pre-booked vehicle then arrives for the ride to the airport. That can be an ambulance or an SUV. But medical escorts occasionally pick up patients in faraway places, and ground transport can be surprising and totally dependent on what’s available locally: a taxi, a wheelchair van or even trains, boats, private vehicles or float planes!
The medical escort provides care throughout the flights, during layovers, upon arrival in Calgary or Edmonton, and during the ground transport to the final destination, until someone else takes over. That can be in a hospital, a long-term care facility or at home.
8. Which airports are used for medical escort cases to Alberta?
Most medical escort missions depart or arrive at Alberta’s two major gateways: Calgary International Airport and Edmonton International Airport. Airlines like WestJet and Air Canada operate low frequencies and only smaller airplanes on the regional routes to smaller communities in rural Alberta, Saskatchewan and Northern BC. Because patients cannot count on extra space, leg elevation, accessible lavatories, etc. in these smaller planes, often the decision is made to transport by road to and from Edmonton or Calgary.
It’s a different story when a patient arrives on a stretcher onboard a commercial flight. Because stretchers are only available on select flights, operated by a few non-Canadian airlines, an Albertan stretcher patient may land in Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal, before being transferred domestically to Alberta, either by ground ambulance or air ambulance.
9. What happens if the airport is closed?
Any Albertan is familiar with the wide variety of extreme weather conditions that can lead to the temporary closure of the Calgary or Edmonton airport and flights being diverted or cancelled. If you are coming from the other side of the world with a sick or injured person, this can be extremely problematic and a good reason for anxiety.
The good news is that the Calgary and Edmonton airports are hardly ever closed at the same time. If a plane cannot land in Calgary, it is likely diverted to Edmonton, and if it can’t land in Edmonton, it can probably still land in Calgary. As an Alberta medical repatriation company, we enjoy maximum flexibility, expertise and resources to quickly react to a change of plans and still bring the mission to a successful end. For example, a patient who needs admission in an Edmonton hospital but unexpectedly arrives in Calgary, can still be picked up by our paramedics and brought to Edmonton by ground ambulance.
10. How do I know that you are truly an Alberta company and not an overseas company pretending to do business in Alberta?
Valid question, as countless overseas companies are advertising local medical transport services online. JET COMPANION is a Canadian company. Our medical teams, vehicles and coordination staff are all physically present in Leduc, Alberta, near Edmonton International Airport. There is no involvement of overseas call centers, and our corporate registrations and licenses are all verifiable through the respective public sources. For those local to Edmonton: feel free to stop by to meet our staff and have a chat.
Call +1 780 870 2442 to discuss your case directly with an Alberta-based Repatriation Coordinator
Early medical repatriation allows Albertans to recover closer to home, family and healthcare providers. We transfer patients to and from a wide variety of communities in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Northern BC, including Fort McMurray, Edson, Grande Prairie, Lloydminster, Fort Nelson, Red Deer, Cranbrook, Kamloops, Kelowna, Medicine Hat, Regina, Saskatoon, Cold Lake, Jasper, Banff and Slave Lake.