When a 46 year old Danish national was diagnosed with acute bacterial meningitis while in Mexico City in September, Jet Rescue Air Ambulance had to formulate a plan to bridge the 9,512 km distance separating him from Copenhagen.

In the end it organised a wing-to-wing transfer of the patient with Germany-based Unicair Air Ambulance at Gander International airport in Newfoundland, Canada. Jet Rescue deployed its Learjet 55 while Unicair deployed a Learjet 45; both critical care air ambulances were staffed with physicians and seasoned flight paramedics. Thus the patient was transported within an environment of continuous critical care from Hospital Angeles Pedregal in Mexico City to a hospital in Denmark.

“A wing-to-wing mission requires precision coordination and accurate execution of the timeline by two companies flying from two different points of origin to a meeting point. Quite literally, the patient’s survival depends on it”, says Jet Rescue chief flight physician Dr Victor Cifuentes.

Owner and CEO Carlos Salinas adds: “This life-saving mission brought together two of the best medevac companies in Europe and the Americas. The collaboration with Unicair was seamless and on schedule. Eva Kluge and her team are outstanding professionals and an optimal partner for wing-to-wing missions.”

With five jet-powered air ambulances, Jet Rescue operates the largest EURAMI accredited international medevac service in Mexico and Latin America, on a Mexican AOC. It operates from bases at Toluca Executive airport in Greater Mexico City, Guadalajara Executive airport and Miami International Executive airport. Aircraft registered in Mexico are owned, operated and managed by Med Jets while those registered in the US are operated by Century Aviation.