AirMed's new purpose built and designed incubator system will be arriving in January 2012. This will be the only incubator of this design and capability available in the commercial air ambulance market today.

“We have given considerable thought to the re-design and upgrade of the aeromedical incubator system to allow us to transport the sickest of neonates” says Dr Charlotte Bennett, AirMed’s Neonatal Medical Director. Modifications developed by ParAid and MAC Interiors mirror state-of-the-art developments in neonatal intensive care which have occurred over the last five years”

The new system will be comprised of an intensive care Drager incubator which is heated and double-walled to allow care of the most premature infants in a thermo-regulated environment. The nitric oxide delivery system and provision of warmed and humidified ventilation gases are integral to the aeromedically certified incubator design. There will also be 6 Braun infusion syringe pumps, not the standard 4 pumps currently seen on aeromedical incubator systems, this will enable AirMed full control of the administration of the precise medication doses that a neonate may require. The fully integrated unit has been designed, tested and certified on its sled by MAC Interiors. The trolley unit has been designed and supplied by ParAid.
	The diagram shows the set up of the integrated system, comprising of a Drager Incubator, 6 Braun infusion pumps, neonatal ventilator and monitor & integrated mobile nitric oxide system. Image: MAC Interiors
The sled is compatible with the LifePort system so is transferable between the Piper Cheyenne IIIAs and the Learjet 35As on AirMed’s fleet, plus road ambulances and the local Thames Valley HEMS EC135 helicopter.

The compatibility across all platforms of transportation was an absolute requirement within the design.

	"The introduction of this unit will be the final stage of the full launch of our perinatal service" concludes Jane Topliss, Director of Business Development. "This will enhance our already recognised service and will really allow us the flexibility to provide a world-class service for all neonates that need transporting, not just those above a certain weight.
Diagram showing detail of the air, oxygen and nitric oxide supply system. Image: MAC Interiors

To get this design to the exact specification that we wanted has certainly been challenging, but we are now extremely happy with the outcome and feel that it will provide us with the technology we need in order to deliver our clinically-led transfer service to the highest of standards."

Clients can be assured that the AirMed medical teams are trained to the very highest standards. The deployment of the perinatal service is family centred and entirely clinically-led with safety considered as paramount importance. By having a fully integrated operation which includes on-site medical teams, engineers and operational staff as well as the flight crews, AirMed is in an excellent position to ensure the provision of a top quality service with seamless interactions between all those staff members required to make the missions a success.

BlueSky Business Aviation News | 22nd December 2011 | Issue #156

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