What Makes a Medical Evacuation File Well Prepared?

Why the file decides the speed

For an assistance company, the time between the first call and the departure of the aircraft depends largely on the quality of the file. A complete file allows the coordinating physician to choose the right aircraft and the right medical team on the first try. An incomplete file means calls back, doubts, and sometimes a wrong choice of configuration. Here is what a well-prepared file contains.

1. Identity and administrative data

• Patient's identity, date of birth, nationality, passport details.
• Policy or contract reference, the assistance case number and the person in charge of the case.
• Confirmation of the guarantee: what the insurer agrees to organize and finance, or the identity of the payer if it is the family.

2. The medical summary

• Diagnosis, circumstances, date of onset, treatments given and operations performed.
• Current condition: consciousness, breathing, hemodynamic stability, pain, mobility.
• Current treatments with doses, allergies, medical history and chronic conditions.
• Infection status: any known contagious disease or resistant germ, which determines whether isolation is needed.

3. Imaging and tests

Scans, X-rays, ultrasounds, blood tests and cultures, on disc or by secure transfer, with the reports. Imaging in a format that the receiving team can open avoids delays.

4. The opinion on fitness to travel

The opinion of the treating physician on whether and when the patient can travel, and on the conditions: position, monitoring, oxygen, ventilation. This opinion is distinct from the decision of the coordinating physician, who assesses the file and the means of transport.

5. The needs on board

• Stretcher or seat, and whether the patient must stay lying down.
• Oxygen, ventilation, monitoring, infusion pumps, incubator, isolation, ECMO.
• Specialist team required: intensive care, pediatric, neonatal.
• Weight and size of the patient, which matter for the stretcher and the loading.
• Need for a medical escort or for a relative to travel.

6. The receiving end

• Name of the receiving hospital, the unit and the physician who accepts the patient, with a direct number.
• Confirmation of the bed, and of the specialty or the intensive-care capacity needed.
• The ground transfer needed at the arrival airport.

7. Contacts and constraints

• Name and direct number of the treating physician abroad, and of the family contact.
• The language spoken, and an interpreter if needed.
• Constraints of time: the patient's condition, a visa, the opening hours of an airport.

8. Consent and confidentiality

The patient's consent, or the consent of the person entitled to decide, to share the medical data with the assistance doctors and the transport team. Medical data are handled in confidence, in line with the applicable data protection rules.

A short checklist

• Identity and contract ✔
• Guarantee or payer ✔
• Medical summary and current condition ✔
• Imaging and tests ✔
• Opinion on fitness to travel ✔
• Needs on board, weight and size ✔
• Receiving hospital and bed ✔
• Contacts and consent ✔

An incomplete file should not delay the first call: we start the work with what is available, and we complete the file as we go.

How we can help

Our coordinating physician reads the file, tells you what is missing, and contacts the treating hospital directly to complete it. See our page for insurers and assistance companies and which documents to prepare.

In short

• A good file lets the right aircraft and the right team be chosen on the first try.
• It combines identity, guarantee, medical summary, imaging, fitness opinion, needs on board, receiving hospital and consent.
• Start with what you have: the file can be completed as the case progresses.

General information only — not personalized medical, legal or insurance advice. Your insurance contract and the treating physician's opinion prevail in your situation.