Story ID: 323
MedAire Showcases New Safety Tools
By: James Wynbrandt
Caption: Aviation safety and security specialist brings Travel Risk Map and aviation security white paper to LABACE.
Word Count: 511
Aviation safety and security services provider MedAire and Brazilian partner Aerosafety (Row 2; Booth 2007) are showcasing at LABACE 2019 a pair of safety tools: The 2019 Travel Risk Map, a global risk assessment; and a new white paper on aviation security protocol.

The 2019 Travel Risk Map, produced annually by MedAire’s parent company, International SOS, and aviation security subsidiary Control Risks, provides a comprehensive overview of current global threats, including medical and travel security concerns. Depicted on a color-coded global map, it’s a tactical planning tool enabling businesses, managers, flight departments and the individuals to visualize potential trouble spots associated with upcoming travel in what MedAire and Control Risks’ director of security John Cauthen calls “an increasingly volatile but interconnected world.” 

Medical risk ratings are determined by assessing a range of health risks and mitigating factors, and they address infectious diseases, environmental factors, medical evacuation data, standards of local medical care, and availability of quality pharmaceutical supplies. Travel security risk ratings are based on the current threat posed by political violence (such as terrorism, insurgency, politically motivated unrest, and war), social unrest (including sectarian, communal and ethnic violence) and violent and petty crime. Infrastructure and environment are also considered where they have the potential to present risks to travelers.

Current Very High Medical Risk Countries/Regions on the map are Venezuela; some nations in Equatorial Africa and the Middle East; Afghanistan; and North Korea. Extreme Travel Security Risk areas include perennial hot spots Libya, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and South Sudan.

To counter these threats on a more strategic level, aviation organizations need a holistic approach focused on three elements, MedAire states in A Holistic Approach: Insight, Preparedness, and Assistance, a security white paper published this year.

“At the core of all aviation operations are people,” Cauthen said of the holistic approach. “Flight departments must have processes in place, as part of their aviation security programs, to mitigate and respond to risks affecting their people and operations.”

MedAire’s advice: proactively consider and recognize potential threats (insight); plan mitigation strategies and tactics (preparedness); and have the tools, processes, and resources in place to deal with acts that do occur (assistance). Acknowledging that “no one-size-fits-all solution exists,” the white paper argues that only “by implementing an approach such as Insight, Preparedness, and Assistance at strategic and operational levels can the aviation industry comprehensively and effectively manage a continuously changing security environment.”

Compounding the challenges are “many initiatives, policies, procedures, standards, and recommended practices” themselves, which often “cause confusion and conflict” about safety and security needs and requirements, the authors state. MedAire representatives are eager to discuss the security white paper with LABACE attendees, and the meaning of its findings for business aviation service providers and consumers alike.

MedAire and Control Risks provide aviation security services including threat information and analysis, travel security training, travel risk assessments, development of travel security risk policies, evacuation plans, and technology solutions for tracking and communicating with mobile employees.