What Happens if Your MedFlight911 Air Ambulance Trip is Cancelled?

Last week we talked about what happens if your ground transportation or air medical escort trip gets canceled. This week we're going to discuss what happens if your air ambulance trip gets canceled or postponed. When working in the medical field, issues arise and plans change. We understand how delicate medical transportation can be, which is why we approach every situation with a focus on our patient's needs and flexibility.

Typically an air ambulance trip is arranged several hours to several days ahead of time. We work within a "window of movement" and airplane availability to plan and execute every medical transport that comes our way. We do our very best to ensure that the plane and crew are where they're supposed to be and on time, however, sometimes things come up that are out of our control.

Reasons for cancellation or postponement of an air ambulance trip

Delays don't happen often, but when they do they can cause the loss of an aircraft for that trip until the next time slot is available. Other times we have to postpone or cancel a trip because the facility that we are transporting the patient to doesn't have a bed available at that time or the patient is not fit to travel. Less commonly we have to postpone or cancel an air ambulance trip due to poor weather conditions, political unrest (this happens more with international air ambulances), airport closures, airplane issue or crew issues, or sadly patient death. In the case of a delay or postponement, the patient's family are only liable of our administrative costs for arranging that trip. These costs are very reasonable.

What happens if you cancel your air ambulance trip?

A patient's family can cancel an air ambulance at no extra cost, other than administrative fees, up until the plane starts moving. However, once an airplane is heading to the patient, the family is liable for the expenses incurred up to the entire cost of the trip – plane, crew, gas, equipment, and so on. In addition, if a plane has been held overnight at a location due to a change in patient status, the family can be held liable for any and all additional crew or aircraft costs.

Anytime an air ambulance trip is canceled, MedFlight911 works closely with the patient and/or their family to ensure that the problem gets resolved quickly. We know that these situations are stressful and we do everything possible to make the process as smooth as possible.

MedFligth911 treats all of our patients and medical transports with the utmost care, even in the event of postponement or cancelations. For more information, call us at 888-359-1911 or get a no-obligation air ambulance quote here.