Air ambulance airport handover in China

Authority and access

The aircraft operator and airport determine permitted ramp handling; a ground team cannot claim independent airside access.

Patient and equipment transfer

Identify who moves the patient between aircraft and ground stretcher, maintains oxygen/monitoring and takes custody of supplies.

Timing contingency

Coordinate landing clearance, vehicle positioning and receiving hospital window; weather or permit change can alter all three.

Ground and flight teams must agree on the exact exchange

A hospital ambulance may arrive near an aircraft but cannot decide its own route onto the ramp. The aircraft operator and airport handling parties specify permitted access and loading. The sending clinical team should tell the flight medical team what support is running immediately before transfer; the flight team confirms what it can maintain aboard. Document when equipment, medicines and responsibility change hands, then repeat the process at arrival with the destination road team. If permissions, aircraft position or weather changes, the handover window may move. A provisional airport plan is not a promise of access.

Confirm permission and the actual exchange point

A dedicated aircraft, road ambulance and hospital team may have different permissions at the airport. Ask the aircraft operator and airport authority where the ground vehicle may stop, who may enter the controlled area and whether a separate authorised transfer team is required. Never promise apron access merely because a patient is travelling medically. The responsible clinical teams should agree patient position, monitoring, oxygen connection and custody of medication and records during the physical move. Draw the exchange point on the route plan, not just the airport name.

Coordinate two clocks and a change path

The aircraft mission uses an estimated landing or departure time, while road crews and hospitals use dispatch and receiving windows. Identify who passes a revised aircraft time to the road provider and receiver, and when a reassessment is required. If aircraft permissions, crew or weather delay the mission, a waiting vehicle is not proof the patient should leave the ward. If the road crew cannot match the new time or clinical scope, ask the responsible operator for an alternative before movement. Close the handover with a named accepting person and documented equipment custody.

A final operational check

The mission brief should contain a single current landing time, authorised airport exchange location, ground call sign or contact and named clinical lead on each side. When any one of these changes, circulate a versioned update to both the aircraft and road teams. Equipment custody and the moment care responsibility changes should be confirmed in the handover record, not inferred from an aircraft door opening.

Decision pathway

If aviation permission or ground team is unconfirmed, do not describe the handover as ready; replan with actual operators.

Information for a useful first enquiry

Aircraft operator and airports; clinical support/equipment; ground provider; handover authority and receiving destination.

For detailed clinical records, use a direct authorised exchange rather than this public page.