International air ambulance service begins

KATHMANDU, Aug 23: Patients in the country can now easily be airlifted to international hospitals for treatment after the introduction of air ambulance service. Air Transport Development and Management (P) Ltd (ATDML) has become the first registered company in the country to provide the service of air ambulance services from Nepal.[break]



The company has started the service in collaboration with The Medical Tourism Dot Com of India. The Indian company has been providing air ambulance and medical services in different places of the world through chartered commercial airlines. ATDML recently entered into an agreement with The Medical Tourism Dot Com to formally begin air ambulance service from Nepal.



"Nepal has long felt the necessity for air ambulance service. But it hadn´t materialized in the absence of a registered organization to provide the service. The services being provided were also not enough and convenient to the people," said Achyut Bahadur Hada, chairperson of ATDML. He further added that they would make air ambulance service convenient and effective. "Anyone who is prescribed by doctors for treatment abroad can get this service," Hada added.



The company is providing air ambulance facility to New Delhi at around Rs 950,000.



"Patient can get the service after depositing the required fee," he said, adding that the cost depends on the medication that is used during the flight.



The Medical Tourism Dot Com will use Pilatus-4 aircraft as air ambulance.



"Earlier, people had no option but to wait for scheduled flights with normal aircraft," Hada said, adding that air ambulance is equipped with necessary medial facilities and has doctors and paramedics onboard. He also said the new facility will be a life savior for patients who are in the urgent need of treatment at hospitals abroad.



"The facilities of air ambulance that we represent will be on par with any international air ambulance," he added.



The air ambulance service started during the World War I. But the service was limited only within the military. Slowly, the service started becoming popular and is presently used all over for emergency medical services.



Before ATDML started the service, people had to contact foreign companies to get the service. Now, they can get the service through ATDML´s office at Tripureshwar. Contact: 4267886.

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