A fleet of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft operate from more than 20 bases across Norway to provide vital medical services. Here's the story of the air ambulance service.
When someone needs urgent medical care in Norway, they call 113. In most cities and towns, an ambulance will respond. But what about rural areas or hard-to-reach mountainous parts of the country?
Owned by the four regional health authorities, Norway's air ambulance service (Luftambulansetjenesten) supports 20,000 patients every year. Given Norway's challenging terrain, it's a critical part of the Norwegian emergency services.
A nationwide service
The service is truly nationwide. Its head office is in Bodø, the medical technical division is in Trondheim and the flight coordination centre is in Tromsø.
The actual flying done by the air ambulance service is contracted out to two operators. Babcock Scandinavian AirAmbulance AS operate fixed-wing aircraft from Gardermoen, Ålesund, Brønnøysund, Bodø, Tromsø, Alta and Kirkenes.
Norsk Luftambulanse AS operates helicopters from Arendal, Lørenskog, Ål, Dombås, Stavanger, Bergen, Førde, Ålesund, Trondheim, Brønnøysund, Harstad, Tromsø and Kirkenes. Operational bases are on call 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
As an important part of Norway's emergency preparedness, the service can take advantage of search and rescue helicopters if they are available. They are situated at Banak, Bodø, Ørland, Florø, Sola and Rygge. The air ambulance fleet also supports search and rescue operations when needed.
Norway's air ambulance fleet
A Cessna C680A Latitude ambulance aircraft and eight Beech B250 King Air are used by the service. Three helicopter types are used: Airbus H135-T3, H145-T2 and Leonardo AW139.
Norway's hospitals have the medical responsibility and staff the planes and helicopters with nurses and doctors.
Air Ambulance Foundation
In 1979, doctor and pioneer Jens Moe started the Norwegian Air Ambulance service on a voluntary basis, financially supported by a Foundation, today known as Stiftelsen Norsk Luftambulanse, or the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation in English.
The Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation works to ensure that everyone who is acutely ill and seriously injured receives faster and correct medical help, no matter where in Norway they are located.
The non-profit organisation works to advance life-saving medical treatment out to the patient. More than 300,000 support members and companies take part in the charity work to develop and improve the air ambulance service through the Foundation.
The foundation's subsidiary Norwegian Air Ambulance Helicopter is the operator of all the country’s thirteen medical helicopter bases. It also owns the subsidiary Norwegian Air Ambulance Technology, which owns several air ambulance buildings and develops and operates technology for use in emergency medical services.
Video support solution
In a good example of the innovation remit of the Foundation, 113 operators can now utilise your mobile phone camera to get a better overview of an emergency situation and give advice.
“There are precious minutes that can be saved by using video so that the 113 operators can see the patients themselves. Then we get the best possible situation understanding and can optimise and activate the right resources, shorten the minutes and gather time in all stages,” said project manager and former 113 operator Jørgen Hauge Skogmo.
The solution was developed by the Foundation thanks to the funding provided by its support members. It has since been donated to the public health service. More than 50,000 video calls have been made to date.
