None of us like to think that one day we could be injured or fall ill while travelling. But even in such cases, passengers are looked after thoroughly and efficiently with Lufthansa German Airlines, the only airline with a medical facility installed onboard.
Lufthansa, a Star Alliance member, with its network of more than 200 destinations worldwide, has established itself as a provider of state-of-the-art medical transport. Lufthansa’s network is ideal for connecting patients to and from the United States, India, Turkey, Middle East and Western Europe as well as other popular medical tourism destinations.
A growing number of medical travelers availed of Lufthansa’s Global Healthcare Partner Program. Lufthansa designed this program to simplify the travel process and cater to the needs of international patients with comfort, flexibility and affordability.
Lufthansa sees about 1,000 cases a year where medical passengers travel on a stretcher. We are constantly monitoring medical travel-related services and we will also continue to cooperate with healthcare facilities and facilitators in order to ensure a leadership role in the medical tourism industry.
We are organized in such a way that we can respond optimally to individual requirements for patient transportation – from the provision of additional oxygen and stretcher transport to intensive care transportation with the unique Patient Transport Compartment (PTC).
Should intensive medical care be required for a planned long-haul flight – either because intensive care patients need to go back to their home country after treatment or go for medical treatment abroad – PTC provides the most modern technology.
Since 1996, Lufthansa has been setting new standards in patient transport offering the PTC: on demand an enclosed, generously sized room with top-class medical equipment can be installed on long-haul commercial flights by taking out seats from the scheduled aircraft and installing this separate cabin.
The medical technology available to the doctor is stateof- the-art and includes artificial respiration, fluid management, monitoring, and laboratory equipment.
Compared to an air ambulance, this is an up-to-50- percent quicker way on scheduled flights because there is no need for intermediate refueling stops.
Within the PTC, there is enough space to provide optimal medical care. The patient is accompanied by a doctor from the clinic or the assistance company as well as by our PTC escort, who is trained as paramedic or nurse and is a fully licensed flight attendant. This way, the doctor has an experienced assistant at-hand and can focus on the medical needs of the patient.
From Asia to Africa, to Middle East, to North and South America – the PTC is used on flights to more than 50 destinations in the entire Lufthansa intercontinental network.
