Transporting a sick patient from Maui to the mainland

David Megginson

David Megginson

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A work colleague needs help. She's been visiting Hawaii, but her elderly mother has become unwell, and is too weak to fly back to California on the airlines (I have no details about her illness). She reached out to me because she knows I fly volunteer flights for Hope Air in Canada, and thought I might know about similar things in the U.S.

What options would be available to her? I know that's too far for a typical Angel Flight (none of our light pistons have that kind of range without ferry tanks). Are there any American charities that arrange for people to fill empty seats in bizjets, assuming her illness isn't contagious?

Barring that, what are the best options for chartering something from Maui to the mainland? $25K+ (wild, uninformed guess) to charter a King Air would be a huge financial hit for them, but if it's their only option, they might be able to borrow the money.

Thanks in advance for any help, hints, or guidance.
 
If she is ambulatory an airliner should be sufficiently safe and appropriate. What makes a business jet anything more than a luxury? If she’s not ambulatory then a dedicated medical transport is in order.

edit @Kritchlow beat me to it…
 
I would reach out to the angel flight organizations. They may not be able to help, but may be able to guide you in the right direction.
 
David Megginson said:
Barring that, what are the best options for chartering something from Maui to the mainland? $25K+ (wild, uninformed guess) to charter a King Air would be a huge financial hit for them
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What charter outfit flies King Air’s to and from Hawaii? I’m guessing none.
 
Kritchlow said:
I don’t have an answer, but I do have a question…
Too sick to fly airlines, but not too sick to fly a biz jet??
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I have a little more info. The problem is that she can't stay awake/conscious for very long, so they're not confident about going through security and boarding, even with a wheelchair. It's not contagious, and she needs no special medical equipment for the flight, but she does need to go into hospital soon and in Hawaii her family won't be allowed to see her in hospital.
 
RyanB said:
What charter outfit flies King Air’s to and from Hawaii? I’m guessing none.
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Yeah. At 2500 miles LAX-HNL I doubt there are any king airs doing that run.

To the OP I am not being snarky or insensitive so I hope it doesn’t come across that way.

In all seriousness if she is able to walk around and go pee on her own then buy an airline ticket and pony up the cash for a bulkhead or perhaps a first class seat. Private aircraft on that route will be cost prohibitive. I would SWAG 40k min cost. If she really needs medical transport then you are not looking for a private jet. You’re looking for a medical transport. That is even more expensive and you are probably looking at insurance or a dedicated charity that operates an aircraft equipped for medical transport. That’s not very common and from what you have shared it’s unlikely the conditions warrant a medevac or reach a bar that gets a charity on board to help.
Good luck. I know these situations can be very stressful. I had to deal with moving a dead family member for burial and that was bad enough but at least I knew they wouldn’t complain about the ride.
 
David Megginson said:
I have a little more info. The problem is that she can't stay awake/conscious for very long, so they're not confident about going through security and boarding, even with a wheelchair. It's not contagious, and she needs no special medical equipment for the flight, but she does need to go into hospital soon and in Hawaii her family won't be allowed to see her in hospital.
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Sounds like a hospital in Hawaii is the best choice. If she can’t maintain consciousness then you’ll have to be on a medical transport. That would be six figures from Hawaii. Charity options probably out too since there is adequate medical care available in Hawaii. They probably won’t care about the local hospitals visitation policies.
 
David Megginson said:
I have a little more info. The problem is that she can't stay awake/conscious for very long, so they're not confident about going through security and boarding, even with a wheelchair. It's not contagious, and she needs no special medical equipment for the flight, but she does need to go into hospital soon and in Hawaii her family won't be allowed to see her in hospital.
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So it's not *really* about the patient.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
Sounds like a hospital in Hawaii is the best choice. If she can’t maintain consciousness then you’ll have to be on a medical transport. That would be six figures from Hawaii. Charity options probably out too since there is adequate medical care available in Hawaii. They probably won’t care about the local hospitals visitation policies.
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Agree, it sounds like she is unstable, things are changing. Not a good time for a long journey although I really feel for the family wanting her near home. Trying to manage this from a distance would be a nightmare but might be what’s best for her.
 
Flying her without medical staff on board such as a medevac style crew would be pretty bad Judgement for any pilot IMO. What do you do when she becomes unstable half way here over the ocean?
 
Ask if she has medical evacuation insurance. If she bought travel insurance for the trip it might be included. If her air ticket was booked with a high-end credit card like Chase Sapphire Reserve that might include it as well.
 
Update: the daughter has been in touch with Angel Flight Intl., and they think they might be able to arrange something. She will, of course, have shared more-detailed information with them than she did with me, so there may be factors that we weren't able to consider.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and comments.
 
NoHeat said:
Ask if she has medical evacuation insurance. If she bought travel insurance for the trip it might be included. If her air ticket was booked with a high-end credit card like Chase Sapphire Reserve that might include it as well.
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Most of these will evacuate you to the nearest facility capable of providing care.
 
EdFred said:
Opinions vary.
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That is true. Some people may do just fine on their own, but there are very few that I know who wouldn't do better with loved ones (or at least someone they know) able to visit. Sick in a hospital surrounded by masked strangers is a pretty lonely place any way you look at it. The necessity of such policies at this time can be debated, but they are not reflective of a humane standard of care.

With all of that said, if the patient drifts in and out of consciousness I would think observation and treatment would be paramount regardless of visitation policy. Once things have stabilized, the patient could be moved.
 
I have done enough diverts for medical reasons to last a lifetime. As the Capt. I would be very reluctant to accept her as a passenger over water without any chance of a reasonable divert alternate. The airlines have cut their medical diversions dramatically by using "Medlink" or one of the other services. You might check with the airline, or even you might be able to reach out to Medlink directly for advice. AirMed is great service. But you need to buy the insurance in advance I think. No place to go with a dying patient on board is really traumatic. I would not ask any of my crews do go through that. Been there, done that a few times. NEVER again!
 
Medical flights in my neck are usually a 1 hour trip and $60000 to $80000 so I'd think a transport to the mainland would be many multiples of that, sorry.
 
MauleSkinner said:
The medical establishment doesn’t give a flying **** about what’s good for the patient.
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Absolutely true. Many of the staff do, but not the corporation. Which is another reason that it's important for family to be involved whenever possible. In addition to providing emotional support, they can act as an advocate for the patient. Being elderly, and alone, in a hospital isn't a good thing.
 
Albany Tom said:
Absolutely true. Many of the staff do, but not the corporation. Which is another reason that it's important for family to be involved whenever possible. In addition to providing emotional support, they can act as an advocate for the patient. Being elderly, and alone, in a hospital isn't a good thing.
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Agreed. I've seen that personally — when someone just gives up, they decline fast no matter what the medical professionals do. Healthcare isn't just a white-coat thing; everyone has to be involved.
 
Chances are Angel Flight will provide her with an airline ticket. Getting a flight in a private airplane on a leg that long are slim to none.

If you want to try the air ambo option, contact Air Med or Reva. I think they are the biggest players in that market now. The last option is to charter something, but its going to be well north of $50k, and that is assuming you can find someone with an airplane in Hawaii with availability.
 
Groundpounder said:
Chances are Angel Flight will provide her with an airline ticket. Getting a flight in a private airplane on a leg that long are slim to none.

If you want to try the air ambo option, contact Air Med or Reva. I think they are the biggest players in that market now. The last option is to charter something, but its going to be well north of $50k, and that is assuming you can find someone with an airplane in Hawaii with availability.
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Thanks. My colleague will have told Angel Flight about the airline issue, so I don't think they'd just send a ticket.

I haven't heard further, but it's possible Angel Flight Intl. is talking with the airline's medical department to find out requirements, looking into medical escorts, or even reaching out to Air Med or Reva on the family's behalf, but that's just speculation. I'll post more information if/when I have it.
 
There is no real need for a evacuation flight since adequate medical care is certainly available in Hawaii. Even if she had purchased medical travel insurance they would not fly her to the mainland.
 
I did not hear anything else from her over the past week, so I don't know if my work colleague ended up getting her mother home to California or not. I just heard through work that her mother passed away today. I hope she made it home and was able to be surrounded by family at the end.

Thank you to everyone for your input.
 
David, I’m sure your colleague appreciates the effort you made to help with her mom.
 
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