Transport Device Facilitates Emergency Medical Transport
EpiShuttle, the patient isolation and transport system developed by EpiGuard, has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration – Australia’s regulatory authority for medicines and medical devices, the company announced on 8 March.
The implications of this for other nations include the fact that Australia, with vast distances to be covered in potential emergency situations, often leads where other nations follow and, not entirely coincidentally, the melding of purely defence and security/emergency services concerns means that an increasing number of countries seek similar solutions. That search has, of course, been intensified by lessons learned worldwide during the pandemic.
“Even though the EpiShuttle has been with [the Royal Australian Air Force] for some time now, we are happy to see the safe isolation and transport system now fully available to the civil Australian market,” observed Michael Eimstad, EpiGuard’s CEO. “We have all experienced how contagious viral diseases are and how they occur more frequently. We know that the EpiShuttle is the best, safest, and most efficient way to transport contagious patients by air. The EpiShuttle is finally available to front-running Australian players like CareFlight in their H145, and especially LifeFlight Australia, with their Challenger 604 in service, which is the same aircraft as FAI air ambulance recently received their supplementary type certification (STC) by the European Union Aerospace Safety Agency (EASA) on. [The] same goes for MedSTAR and their Bell412 which is the helicopter the Royal Norwegian Air Force fitted for use with the EpiShuttle. Furthermore, Toll Ambulance Rescue can benefit from both the Northern Norway Regional Health Authority and Abu Dhabi Police’s experience from using the EpiShuttle in the AW139. Also, the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) may benefit a lot from Pilatus Aircraft Ltd’s own integration of the EpiShuttle, into their four medevac PC-24s.”
During trials to certify the PC-24’s impressive unpaved runway capabilities, airframer Pilatus prioritised the requirements of Australia’s Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). A key early customer for the Swiss twinjet, the RFDS helped establish the PC-24’s credentials as an air ambulance.
Viral outbreaks occur more frequently now than before. During epidemics there are hotspots with ICU capacity brought to its knees. Safe isolation and transport are therefore kernel to the strategy of pandemic preparedness – and the EpiShuttle facilitates exactly that capability. “During outbreaks we must be able to transport patients out of hotspots to where ICU capacity is available. Only when safe transport is in place can we utilise the full capacity of the entire health care system and ensure treatment for everyone,” Eimstad concluded.
EpiShuttles are used by the World Health Organisation and by first responders in Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Peru, Ireland, Greece, Norway, and the UK, as well as by air forces that include Australia, Canada, Denmark and Norway. In the private sector, EpiShuttles are a common sight with companies like FAI air ambulance, Air Alliance Medflight, DRF Luftrettung, Keewatin Air, Luxemburg Air Rescue and others.
