International Assistance Group welcomes European Air Ambulance in its Partnership

International Assistance Group is steadily extending its network of Partners and Preferred Providers, in order to provide the best operational solutions to its Core Partners and their customers. Since January 2012, 17 new Partnerships have been contracted and International Assistance Group boasts today 52 Partners companies in the world. Assistance companies, roadside companies, medical correspondents, air ambulance companies, medical facilities, funeral companies as well as medical escorts companies joined the group. All of them agree on the business opportunities and the power of the knowledge sharing events that International Assistance Group organizes for them three times a year.

After the successful application and selection process of European Air Ambulance, International Assistance Group is happy to announce the entry of this new player in its Partnership Program. European Air Ambulance (EAA) is one of the largest specialised air ambulance service providers in Europe and is offering worldwide air ambulance repatriation with outstanding end-to-end patient care.

EAA founders DRF Luftrettung and Luxembourg Air Ambulance have a combined record of over 45 successful years of experience in air ambulance services. Both together operate more than 50 helicopters and 7 air ambulance aircraft and have performed over 650.000 missions. Together, DRF Luftrettung and Luxembourg Air Ambulance gather medical repatriation experience from over 150 countries worldwide, giving EAA one of the broadest expertise in the air ambulance industry. EAA can also rely on a dense network of international co-operation agreements, which ensures speedy and smooth execution of intensive care transports with bed-to-bed service.

By combining the strengths of DRF Luftrettung and Luxembourg Air Ambulance, European Air Ambulance also improves customer service by providing a single point of contact. Specialised, multilingual staff at the Sales & Mission Control Centre can handle everything from quote to invoice via the safe delivery of the patient to the destination hospital. EAA Fleet is composed of 7 dedicated air ambulance aircraft (5 Learjet 35A and 2 Learjet 45XR). EAA is in the process of renewing its fleet changing gradually from Learjet 35A to 45XR with the next 45XR expected in early 2013.

These aircraft are based in Luxembourg (ELLX) and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden (EDSB). All EAA missions are staffed by an experienced intensive care medical team consisting of at least 1 physician and 1 flight nurse or paramedic. EAA can choose the physician from a large pool of anesthetists, neonatologists, pediatricians, gynecologists, obstetricians or other specialists, depending on the patient's medical condition.

EAA members, DRF Luftrettung and Luxembourg Air Ambulance, are compliant with the latest aviation regulations, the JAA (Joint Aviation Authorities) and have the following certifications: EHAC European HEMS & Air-Ambulance Committee AAMS Association of Air Medical Services FSF Flight Safety Foundation JAA Joint Aviation Authorities ISO International Organization for Standardization.

About International Assistance Group

International Assistance Group is a limited incorporated company in Paris (France) regulated under the French law and owned by its Partners. This worldwide commercial alliance of independent companies spanning all the links in the assistance value chain was formed in 1992 by five European companies with the aim of helping each other offer quality assistance to cases. The group's success has attracted accredited companies from every continent and it now boasts 52 partners and a turnover of over €678 million. More than 6,800 employees take care of 77 million end users. Last year, International Assistance Group® handled over 3.9 million cases and 30,000 repatriations.