Flying Doctors Asia Discusses the Medical Assistance Industry’s Development in Asia

 

 

Flying Doctors Asia (FDA) is one of the Asia’s leading Air Ambulance and Medical Evacuation companies. FDA is based in Singapore and started operating in 2006. Since then, the company’s fleet, equipment, and services have expanded to what they are today.

 

FDA’s Assistant Manager, Alex Khalil, walks us through the company’s services as well as their insights about the growth of the Medical Assistance Industry in Asia.

 

Learn more in their full interview below.

 

Q: Can you give us a brief description of Flying Doctors Asia’s range of services?

A: Flying Doctors Asia (FDA) & Executive Jets Asia (EJA) are 2 affiliated companies based in Singapore. We specialise in air ambulance services since 2006. EJA provides the aviation component while FDA is the medical arm. We offer complete bed-to-bed services in Asia with increasing number of wing-to-wing transfer cases in middle east onward to Europe and USA (east coast).

We have our own fleet of aircraft, with a full hangar and maintenance base in Johor, Malaysia. As we operate and manage our own aircraft, our rates are one of the most competitive in the region and customers can avoid hefty third-party costs when they use our aircraft.

 

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Q: What kind of services or packages do you offer IPMI companies?

A: We offer the following services for IPMI companies:

  • One-stop-shop for bed-to-bed air ambulance service (includes medical team, medical equipment, medicine, ground ambulances at both ends)
  • Fast aircraft activation particularly in South East Asia region (airborne in as little as 2-hour notice)
  • Movement updates at every point, from hospital to hospital
  • 24-hour on-call service

 

Q: Can you tell us more about your current fleet and what kind of equipment you carry?

A: For air ambulance transfers, we have dedicated four Westwind aircraft and one Hawker 700. 

We have complete sets of essential medical equipment, which include:

  • Ventilator
  • Vital signs monitor
  • Syringe pump
  • Suction machine
  • Automated electrical defibrillator
  • Oxygen cylinder
  • Full body vacuum mattress
  • Scoop stretcher
  • Spinal board
  • Body parts splinting device
  • Head immobiliser
  • Neck collar

Our dedicated team of doctors and nurses specialises in air ambulance transfers and is one of the most experienced in the region.  

 

Q: What kind of developments do you see in the medical assistance industry, particularly in Asia recently?

A: High growth as Asians get more affluent, particularly the rich living in developing countries where medical facilities are inadequate.

We have increasing number of cases from Indonesia, India, China and Indochina countries. Typically transferring to Singapore and Bangkok hospitals. These patients are usually not insured and they pay out of their own pockets. 

The other high-growth market is the European, American and Australian tourist market, as more choose Asia as their holiday destination. They usually have travel insurance to cover their repatriation.

Lastly, we also see increasing number of foreign workers and expatriates working in Asia who fall ill or meet with accidents and need to be evacuated to better-equipped hospitals. In some cases, to be repatriated to their home countries as they are unlikely to recover. These are insurance cases.

 

Q: What can we expect from Flying Doctors Asia in the future?

A: As we are strategically located in Singapore and Malaysia to serve this growth, we are acquiring more aircraft for air ambulance use. We are in talks to position an aircraft in Thailand soon, to serve the Indochina market and patients transferring to hospitals in Bangkok. We are also constantly looking for partners to support wing-to-wing transfers onward to Europe and USA.

 

 

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