Introduction

Air Compassion America® was born out of a nonprofit organization called Mercy Medical Airlift (MMA), a charity that has long recognized the need for charitably-assisted air ambulance service. MMA has sought to meet the need through diverse efforts, including the purchase and operation of aircraft for air ambulance missions and, more recently, the development of a nonprofit organization, Air Compassion America (ACAM). ACAM seeks to locate and coordinate bed-to-bed air ambulance services with the overall goal of lowering costs for patients.

Air Compassion America traces its origin to 1977 when four pilots from Northern Virginia bought a Beech Bonanza A36 six-seat aircraft to use for humanitarian purposes. They were Dr. Louis Evans, Jr., the pastor of the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.; Major William Buckingham, an Air Force officer with a Ph.D. in political science; General Paul Watson, a retired Air Force General; and Ed Boyer, a pilot for 25 years and a professional engineer with the Department of Health and Human Services.

The partnership became a nonprofit corporation in 1984, receiving 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the IRS, and began flying charitable air ambulance missions in 1985, operating as Mercy Medical Airlift. The missions were flown to help families in crisis who could not afford commercial air ambulance service. Sixteen such missions took place during the last quarter of 1985.

The organization acquired a Cessna 421C as the primary air ambulance, allowing pressurized, high-altitude, long-distance flights. Operations rapidly expanded, and in 1987, the number of volunteer pilots and nurses reached 90. In 1988 MMA logged over 375 air ambulance flights from its founding, representing a total of over 1.5 million safe miles. Operations were moved into a new hanger and maintenance facility at Manassas Airport in Virginia.

Service to needy patients and families continued to expand, due in large part to implementation of the National Patient Air Travel Help Line (NPATH) that links callers and resources.

In 1991, MMA acquired an Air Carrier Certificate so the air ambulance service could operate under Part 135 of the Federal Air Regulations.

In 1994, MMA was flying about five to six air ambulance patients a month.

In 1996, due to high costs and inability to obtain sufficient funds from philanthropic sources, the organization sold its Cessna 421C and cut back on air ambulance operations. The next year, Mercy Medical moved to Virginia Beach from its Manassas office.

In 1998, air ambulance operations ceased, to be resumed only if adequate funding were to become available on a sustainable basis.

As mentioned, the MMA board had always recognized the pressing need for charitably-assisted air ambulance service: 26 percent of NPATH patient calls are from persons seeking such service. The problem and potential solutions were discussed at every board meeting. After careful consideration, MMA decided the best plan would be to develop a patient advocacy organization to help locate the most economical service from among various private air ambulance companies throughout the nation.

In February 2004, Air Compassion America was launched in Virginia Beach, Va. A board of directors was formed, a program director was hired and two months later, on April 24, 2004 the first mission was flown. In April of 2005, a mission coordinator was added to staff the increased demand. To date, the phone has not stopped ringing. Three years after its founding, ACAM had flown a total of 476 missions, with the average number of missions per month rising from 9 to 22 (see Figure 1). ACAM has been able to save patients an estimated $2,534,025 or an average of 38 percent per mission (see Figure 2). These numbers represent the difference between prices quoted by air ambulance companies to clients directly and prices the organization was able to get through the bid process.

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

A mission coordinator was added to ACAM in April 2005, and the office was renovated and expanded. In addition, an automated computer system was designed and implemented to standardize the intake procedure and capture data on a real time basis. For greater visibility, ACAM also signed up with Air Ambulance Forum, an online company that posts weather, position of planes, empty leg reports, and other valuable information.

Ed Boyer, ACAM