BENGALURU: Now, Covid-19 patients and other patients will no longer need to travel by road for medical emergencies. Bengaluru’s Jakkur aerodrome will be the first air base in South India with air ambulance services, which will commence in September. The helicopter and aircraft ambulance service will pick and drop patients even from the remote villages to swanky urban sprawls in quick time. They will have a doctor, a paramedical officer, a nurse and two pilots. The service is being launched by Icatt Kyathi Air Ambulance.
Fahim Hussain, Marketing Head of Icatt, told TNIE that the Chief Minister had given his nod to launch the services from Bengaluru. “So far we have been operating from other cities like Delhi and Mumbai. With the launch base in Bengaluru, catering to patients will be faster and economical also. From September, we are starting this service — India’s first isolation pod for safe transportation of Covid-19 patients and land ambulance fitted with German Isolation Pod,” he said.
He added that they had got the approval of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Hussain explained that there are already seven to eight air ambulances where the charted craft is converted into a makeshift ambulance. The helicopters can land in remote villages and building rooftops, while the aircraft can land even on small air strips.The doctors and paramedics have undergone the Aeromedical Retrieval Training Programme, created for flying doctors, he said.