Fewer beds in city, demand for air ambulance skyrockets

Nagpur: If people have driven hundreds of kilometres in ambulances in search of a bed for Covid patients, those having the money have flown out. As beds and medicines were short, many a rich have taken an air ambulance to reach a hospital.
The most preferred destination is Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana, said the flight operators providing air ambulance services from Nagpur. This is because hospital beds were available in the city due to comparatively less cases there.
In April, nearly 10 air ambulances took off from Nagpur, said airport sources. This means two in a week. Seven were domestic flights. The international flight included the plane which took the French citizen employed at Mihan back to his country after he had contracted Covid.
Among the international flights, a couple of air ambulances had landed in Nagpur for refuelling, said a source.
Operators said this has been a tough time. The demand is high and there are limited aircraft that can be operated as air ambulances. Fares have gone up by almost 50% of the normal times, said sources.
“It’s not Nagpur alone, patients are being flown from much smaller towns also. A day ago a patient was taken from Akola. Flights are taking off from places like Nanded, Gaya, Ranchi and Guwahati. The patients are being taken to bigger places like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad or Chennai,” said Rajesh Sahu from Aurea Aviation Private Limited, one of players offering the service.
Sahu said his company handled more than eight air ambulances from Nagpur during the last month.
According to Sahu, in the normal course it may take around Rs10 lakh for an air ambulance to be flown to Hyderabad or any destination at a similar distance. “These days it’s up to Rs14 to 15 lakh,” he said.
“A specific permission is needed to operate a plane as an air ambulance. Under the current circumstances, 8 to 9 are available, leading to a tight position. There are also risks involved in taking the patient till the aircraft. For a Covid patient, no relative is allowed. The cost of other inputs has also gone up,” he said.
Sahu feels considering the emergency situation the government should allow using other aircraft as air ambulances also. “The authorities need to ease the rules in such a situation,” he said.
Onboard, Covid patients are kept in a pod which is a protective cover with oxygen arrangement. The pods are not made in India and have to be imported from Germany. “This leads to a cost of Rs18 to Rs20 lakh. There should be attempts for local production also,” he said.
Some of the handling agencies are wary of catering to Covid patients due to the tough conditions laid by aircraft operators. “We are avoiding Covid cases because of the high costs involved, but it has been learnt that some of the patients have also flown abroad in an air ambulance,” said a represative of a handling firm.