AMGASSIST Gets You Home
Getting home if you become ill while traveling has never been easier. Our members know if the unthinkable happens, they will be able to get back because one call activates a team of medical and aviation specialists singularly focused on getting members to the health care they want and need.
“It’s a simple enough concept,” remarked Dr. Gabriel Krenitsky, Medical Director for AirMedical Global Assistance. “We help travelers when they need it most. In your darkest hour, we are your shining light.” The simple concept originated when Krenitsky and long-time friend, and fellow pilot, George Katsikas owner of Aitheras aviation, a global air ambulance company, came together and created a membership company that combined a love of aviation and a passion for helping people.
“We looked at some of the trips we were doing for individuals, or insurance companies, and were disheartened by what we found,” said Krenitsky. Turns out the incidence of insurance companies picking the destination hospital, as opposed to the patient, or their flat denial of transportation altogether, was very frustrating and expensive for the patients and their families. In one case, an individual with a brain bleed was taken from Turks and Caicos to Jamaica instead of Miami for neurosurgery. In another, a firefighter, who fell and fractured his femur, was denied transportation from Colombia because the cost was too high. All too often, traditional health care providers, as well as travel insurance policies, have clauses specifying they will take a patient to a facility they alone determine as suitable. Some global transports could cost upwards of $250,000, which insurers may refuse to pay. However, our members have no additional cost for transportation.
“Once we realized how significant the need was, we wanted to create something simple. Simple criteria for transport, simple activation process, and most importantly world-class medical care starting the moment we arrive at the patient’s bedside in the hospital,” Krenitsky said. What was created is an answer to the failures of traditional travel and medical insurance. For starters, membership covers every trip someone takes for the duration of their membership. It’s not just for the big family vacation to Europe or Asia. We cover the weekend road trip as well. Hospitalization qualifies most members for transport. One call activates a 24/7/365 team of aviation and medical professionals dedicated to getting members to the hospital of their choice. Dispatch occurs within hours.
Krenitsky explains, “Many of the patients we pick up are in underdeveloped countries. Despite the best efforts of the doctors and nurses treating these patients, limited resources often hinder their ability to provide the kind of care we are accustom to in the United States. I can’t even tell you how many patients begin to improve en route!” “We are as passionate about helping people as we are about aviation. Because of what our experience caring for travelers has taught us, we think a membership should be on every traveler’s adventure checklist. Essentially we allow people to live limitless because we ensure there will always be a way home,” said Krenitsky.
AOPA members receive a 10-percent discount with the code AOPA2021. Visit amgassist.com/aopa for more information.
