Aeromedical Retrievals

CATS transfer over 40 critically ill children each year to PICUs in the UK by air. This makes us the largest provider of emergency aeromedical critical care transfers for children within the UK.

When do we fly?

Aeromedical transfer is just one component of the CATS team response, and in common with all other facets of our service, is an integrated, controlled and risk-managed process. Use of aircraft are carefully targeted by our CATS Consultants to provide maximal benefit to our patients. All CATS air transfers are reviewed by our multi-disciplinary team to ensure quality standards are met and also examined in detail at quarterly CATS Risk Action Group meetings.

Emergency aeromedical transfers are technically and logistically difficult – compared with land transfers, there are many more steps involved:[break]Show me [break][break]Despite this, aeromedical transfers can save time – vital when specialist expertise is needed at the bedside of a critically ill child or when it shortens the time taken to get the child into a PICU.[break]Show me [break] From an operational perspective, since CATS team working hours are tightly regulated by the EU, aeromedical transfer also allows the team to be mobilised to a sick child further away, later into a working shift.