Dubai Hospital Teams with FAI Air Ambulance Service

Dubai’s Medcare Royal Specialty Hospital has agreed to provide medical specialists to support air ambulance operator FAI. The cooperation agreement was signed by hospital executives and the German operator’s local subsidiary, FAI Aviation Services, on Monday at the Dubai Airshow.

Under the deal, Medcare’s intensive care unit doctors and other staff will be available for FAI’s air ambulance flights. The partners have agreed to hold joint training and clinical readiness exercises as part of efforts to shorten emergency response times for urgent or critical patient transfers.

According to FAI, enhancing air ambulance services in the UAE is important as part of the country’s efforts to become a hub for medical tourism. The Medcare Royal Specialty Hospital, which has a specialist trauma unit, has been providing critical support for inbound medical evacuation missions for some time, and some of its doctors have already supported FAI flights since 2008.

A recent mission involved a young U.S. expatriate woman, a resident in the UAE, who sustained severe injuries in a car accident while on vacation in Kyrgyzstan. After her doctors advised against a flight back to the U.S., FAI flew her to Dubai on a Bombardier Challenger 604 and she was discharged from the hospital six weeks later.