Bell, SHC and hospital complete air medical training exercise

Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company, in collaborationwith Shaanxi Helicopter Co. Ltd. (SHC) and Shaanxi Provincial People'sHospital, announced the successful completion of an Air Medical Services (AMS)training exercise in China. This exercise is an initial step toward developingair medical capability for the Implementation Program for a Joint Pilot ofAviation Medical Rescue launched earlier this year by the National HealthCommission of China and the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC).

"During the two-week event, expertise on best practiceswas shared through academic seminars and practical training using real-lifesimulations," said Jacinto Monge, Bell managing director for North Asia.

With the support from Med-Trans Corporation, more than 50people from Shaanxi Helicopter and the People’s Hospital participated in theexercise which covered aviation safety practices and culture, functions andresponsibilities for medical transport, flight planning and decision making,crew resource management and flight physiology. In addition, an introduction tothe cross-functional coordination among emergency response, medical care,dispatch and aviation was provided to create a safe and effective air medicalnetwork solution for China.

Research from The Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS)and ASCEND, has shown that air medical services can significantly reduce themortality rate of patients and improve the outcome of treatment. At present,there are more than 1,200 civilian air medical helicopters serving 320 millionpeople in the United States; China currently has less than 100 civilian air medicalhelicopters serving 1.4 billion people. China’s central government plans tobuild a modern healthcare system, which will include an extensive air medicalservices network.