DRF Luftrettung's Civil Air Ambulance intensive care helicopter has completed its first operation with its special insulating stretcher. For therapeutic reasons, a 70-year-old woman was transferred from Schwäbisch-Hall to a Kassel hospital for further treatment. Primarily provided for the transport of COVID-19 patients, the helicopter was the first in the DRF fleet to be equipped with an EpiShuttle.

Coinciding with the purchase of 11 EpiShuttles, the H145 Civil Air Ambulance intensive care helicopter based at Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport has been operating separately from the active fleet since March 28. Until further notice, the Civil Air Ambulance is primarily intended for the transport of COVID-19 patients and was converted and made ready for use in just 36 hours. While its area of ​​application is mainly the transport of COVID-19 patients from particularly badly affected regions abroad to further treatment clinics at home and abroad, it is also used in Germany,

“In accordance with our mission of 'People.Life.Rescue', we became active within a very short time and made an additional helicopter ready for use with the Civil Air Ambulance," explains Dr Krystian Pracz, CEO of DRF. “Due to the specific application spectrum, equipping this intensive care helicopter for the rapid transfer of COVID-19 patients with one of the first available EpiShuttles was more than obvious."

Non-profit DRF Luftrettung relies on support through donations. “For people and their lives, according to our promise to be there for them always and everywhere, we don't hesitate for a second to act," Dr Pracz continues. “We would be very happy if our donors and sponsors would support this special effort for the decisive minutes."

DRF Luftrettung is able to fly patients quickly and under intensive care conditions to a clinic with a free ventilation bed. However, the transportation of people infected with COVID-19 poses a particular risk to the health of the crew, because the interior of the helicopters are narrow and the pilot, emergency medic and emergency doctor are in direct contact with patients. In addition, crews have to disinfect the helicopter after these operations in a particularly complex manner. With the EpiShuttles, DRF Luftrettung now has the opportunity to protect its crews as well as patients more simply and effectively, thereby ensuring that they remain fully operational in the future.