Lufthansa’s patient transport compartment contains lie-flat bed you want to avoid (Image: Lufthansa)
This week Lufthansa rolled out details on a new “Patient Transport Compartment” (PTC) on its Boeing 748-8 and Airbus A380 flights from Frankfurt and Munich.
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Lufthansa says, “The PTC boasts a multitude of advantages compared to a conventional air ambulance, for example lower costs and a time savings of up to 50 percent due to the fact that it is installed right in the airliner. The spacious interior of the PTC offers enough space for the patient’s bed, two seats for the doctor treating the patient and a Lufthansa crew member and intensive care equipment along with the required material and medication.”
International medical evacuations and transportation can be frighteningly expensive (easily more than $100,000) if you are hurt or become severely ill overseas. That’s why frequent international travelers (or the companies that employ them) have medical evacuation policies in place that cover the cost of medical transport to the nearest medical facility, or back to the U.S. from abroad.
Here’s how InsureMyTrip.com describes medical evacuation coverage:
The German carrier says that it already transports up to 100 intensive care patients in existing PTCs on its 747-400 and Airbus A340 and A330 aircraft.
Have you ever become severely ill overseas? What happened?
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Yes, a few years ago I was visiting St. Paul’s in London and tripped on the tiny stairs coming down from the Golden Gallery. I fell a long way on those stone steps and got banged up pretty bad. I’m sure the tourists below could hear my scream as it floated across the nave. Could barely walk after that, but I felt no broken bones so I just got a compression bandage for my ankle and limped my way through the rest of England and France. And I was later told that I could have gone to a British hospital and been treated for free by their NHS because I was in the country legally. Don’t know if that’s accurate or not.
I wonder if some rich tourists will use the “Patient Transport Compartment” for ordinary travel. I have heard of very rich entertainers in Los Angeles who needed to get across town during rush hour, and they just hired an ambulance to transport them in a jiffy even though they are not ill or injured. I hope that’s against the law now… let them hire a helicopter like the rest of us.