Cabair Helicopters is touting itself for new business - in particular, business of the medical airlift kind. In July of this year, the UK-based company had an AS355 Twin Squirrel converted into a medevac role by Police Aviation Services at Gloucester, Staverton airport. Since then, it has covered events such as the World Superbike meeting at Brands Hatch and is soon to be put to the test at the Network Q Rally of Great Britain. \rEuropean Business Air News spoke to company representative Paul Forster, firstly about Cabair's decision to launch a medevac service. He said: "I've been involved in motorsport for quite some time now and there was a bit of a void in anybody doing a full-blown medevac service. A lot of people have helicopters for which they scrounge kit and ask somebody to provide a paramedic. What we've done is put the lot together. We've got the aircraft with the stretcher, all the equipment and the paramedic. I'm looking to the motorsport world and to anyone else who might want to use it."\rAs things stand right now, Cabair is using the AS355 mainly for charter purposes. However, with an advertised conversion time of five minutes, Forster says it has the advantage of being available at short notice for medevac purposes. He said: "We've offered it to various health authorities and said that although it's not a dedicated medevac helicopter or air ambulance - because it is normally used on air charter - we're quite happy to have it on 24-hour standby. If they or others want it, then we can get it converted very, very quickly and it's available to go out fully kitted." Cabair has three fully qualified paramedics on its books but none are available 24 hours a day, unless by pre-arrangement. Forster said: "If someone rang up today and said they needed it on standby for tomorrow, then we would take it off charter and allocate another aircraft. Or alternatively, if there was a traffic accident in the Watford area now, what I've said to the health people is that if there's a problem, we can have the helicopter converted in five minutes. The kit is all there in a box, ready to be thrown in.\r"If it had to go to a road accident, it would need the paramedic on-site to accompany the helicopter. If we sort that out with the relevant health authority, then I'm quite happy to show the helicopter conversion to all the paramedics that are likely to fly in it, so that they know what they're doing when they have to jump in the helicopter."\rIt is in the motorsport world, however, that Forster see the aircraft's imminent future. He said: "We've just got the contract for the Network Q and there are several other motorsports governing bodies who have said we can put a quote in to supply a helicopter for quite high profile race meetings next year. One of the main attractions is that it is fully complete. When we turn up, we have the helicopter, the stretcher, all the main equipment such as ventilator, aspirator, defibrillator, all the drips, all the drugs, and paramedic on-board." \rThankfully, says Forster, there were no serious injuries for Cabair to deal with at Brands Hatch. Network Q, he said, could be another story. He said: "I hope I'm wrong but accidents are more likely as those guys don't pull any punches." In order that Cabair's medevac operation is carried out to its maximum efficiency, Paul Forster has created an operations manager position - one he currently fulfils himself. Asked about the ops manager role, Forster told EBAN: "I want to let the crew concentrate on the job they're doing, so it is my role to liaise with the organiser or chief medical officer, find out what they need and deal with it totally. For example, if they're too busy to contact the hospitals, then I'll call the hospital best equipped to deal with the injury and ask them to prepare for the patient. We always research the nearby hospitals beforehand so that we know which is best suited for head injuries, burns, fractures and so on."\rCabair promotes its medevac service as "a complete stand-alone operation". By this it means, in addition to helicopter, paramedic and equipment, it can provide a 4x4 vehicle on the ground, complete with towable refuelling facilities. Forster said: "If you take Network Q for example, when you get into areas in Wales where it's not always easy to get communications through, the 4x4 comes into its own. I will position the 4x4 on high ground, between the Cheltenham HQ and the helicopter, to act as a relay should they need to communicate. \r"I also carry the replenishment stock for the helicopter, all the usual pain-relieving drugs and oxygen, for example. What you don't want is for the helicopter to be carrying three spare cylinders. So I carry all that as well, in order that I can meet up with the helicopter at the hospital and replenish its stock." \rThe configuration of Cabair's AS355 allows room for pilot, para-medic, doctor and a stretcher. Forster said: "Everyone can have a headset and the patient can be isolated from the pilot or doctor/paramedic, should the situation worsen. So if you don't want the patient to hear, you can disconnect them from the relevant people. But they will have a headset as well, so they can hear what's going on in the appropriate circumstances."\rFor the near future, Forster has only enthusiasm. He said: "There are exciting projects coming up. I think once people see the standard we're working to, the work will certainly come in for the AS355 next year." Cabair says one attractive feature of its service is its flexibility. Forster said: "If someone said we want the complete service with paramedic on-board, we can supply that. If someone just wants the helicopter and equipment, we can supply that as well. It's available at very short notice on an ad hoc basis. Whatever time of day or night, we can be on stand-by." Although Cabair is clearly aiming its Twin Squirrel at the medevac arena, charter is still the company's bread and butter. Forster said: "We have quite a few aircraft and they're working most of the time on charters. If the medevac thing got so busy that we needed to take it off charter and put it on full-time medevac - which would be great - then we'd act accordingly." \r"Charter-wise, we've flown everyone from Tom Cruise to pop stars to heads of states to Flying Pictures, who use our aircraft for things like the new Bond movie."