A travel agent working for a government health authority approached ACS for help with a short-notice and logistically complex request: to transport a critically ill newborn baby boy from London to Gibraltar for urgent medical treatment.
Transporting a critically ill baby for urgent medical treatment
A travel agent working for a government health authority approached ACS for help with a short-notice and logistically complex request: to transport a critically ill newborn baby boy from London to Gibraltar for urgent medical treatment.
The 12-day-old baby didn’t yet have a passport and needed specialist care throughout the flight, so it was a race against time to coordinate the necessary paperwork and find a suitable aircraft with availability for the last-minute charter.
Our Solution
Route: London > Gibraltar
Aircraft: Learjet 45 Air Ambulance
Drawing on decades of experience in arranging emergency medical charters, we quickly sourced a Learjet 45 Air Ambulance with a full onboard intensive care unit and space for the patient and his medical team. On the day of the flight, the baby was transferred by ambulance from hospital directly to the door of the aircraft. After a smooth flight to Gibraltar, his treatment continued onboard after landing when the ambulance transporting him from the aircraft to hospital was delayed by an hour.
The Finer Details
Rapid Response: We worked around the clock to secure the specialist aircraft, paperwork and clearances for this last-minute charter, which wouldn’t have been achievable for a commercial flight within such a tight timeframe.
Specialist Knowledge: Our experienced team secured permits for the flight despite the baby not having a passport. We also liaised between hospital staff and the aircraft’s medical crew to ensure the patient was transported smoothly.