To book an air ambulance in India, you send the patient’s current medical summary to the provider, an aeromedical doctor reviews it and confirms the right kind of transfer, and you get a written quote in 10 minutes. Once you approve, the team arranges the aircraft or the stretcher berth, the crew, permits, and the ground ambulances at both ends. You do not pay a deposit to get the quote or the medical assessment. That is the short version. The rest of this page is what happens at each step and what to have ready so it moves fast.

Step 1 — Send the medical summary

The single thing that speeds everything up is the patient’s current medical summary — the diagnosis, whether they are ventilated or stable, current vitals, and the name of the treating hospital. A discharge summary or the treating doctor’s note is enough to start. You can send it by WhatsApp or through the form. If you do not have paperwork to hand, tell us what you know on the phone and we will work from that while the documents follow.

Step 2 — The doctor’s assessment

A RED aeromedical doctor reads the summary and decides what the patient actually needs. This is where the two options get sorted out.

• A dedicated air ambulance (ICU charter) for a patient who is unstable, ventilated, or needs continuous intervention in the air. The aircraft is configured around the patient and flies when they are ready.

• A medical escort on a scheduled flight for a stable patient cleared as fit to fly — a RED doctor or nurse travels with them, either in the cabin or beside a stretcher berth on a commercial airline.

The assessment is free, and it is the step that most often saves money — because the honest answer is frequently that the patient does not need a full charter.

Step 3 — The written quote in 10 minutes

You get the price in writing, not read out over the phone. Our average turnaround from receiving the medical summary is 10 minutes; 20 minutes is the outer limit. The quote is bed to bed — aircraft or stretcher berth, aeromedical crew, in-flight equipment and oxygen, permits and slots, ground ambulance at both ends, and coordination with both hospitals. There is no deposit to receive it.

Step 4 — Approve and the team mobilises

Once you approve the quote, the coordinator takes over the logistics: securing the aircraft or the airline berth, the landing and overflight permits, airport slots and ground handling, and booking the two ground ambulances. One coordinator owns the case from here so you are not repeating the story to five people.

Step 5 — Fitness to fly and departure

Before departure the patient is confirmed fit to fly for the plan chosen, the crew is briefed on the case, and the sending hospital hands over. On arrival the receiving hospital takes over and the patient is admitted. The coordinator stays with the case until that admission is done.

What to have ready

You do not need all of this to start — you need the first two lines. But having these ready removes back-and-forth:

• The patient’s medical summary or discharge note

• Whether the patient is stable or ventilated, and current oxygen needs

• The sending hospital and the destination city or hospital

• A contact number that stays reachable

• Any insurance policy, if repatriation might be covered — send it and we deal with the insurer directly, and we quote without waiting for the insurer to decide

If it is an emergency right now

Call or WhatsApp and say it is urgent. The assessment and quote compress, but the clinical decision does not get skipped — a same-day departure is possible, and the doctor still confirms the transfer is safe before the aircraft moves.