Norwegian Air Ambulance

The Norwegian Air Ambulance is an aerial ambulance service in Norway organised through the government owned limited company Luftambulansetjenesten (Air Ambulance Service). The service provides ambulance and rescue helicopter services in addition to fixed-wing air ambulance operations.

Planes are provided at six airports, search and rescue helicopters at five military air stations and helicopters at 11 hospitals. The rescue helicopters are operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force 330 squadron while the other operations are operated by the private company Lufttransport and the foundation Norsk Luftambulanse on contract for the Air Ambulance Service.

History
Air ambulance services in Norway have been operated by private companies and the military since the 1920s, but the first dedicated service came in 1972 when the Air Force 330 squadron was equipped with Westland Sea King helicopters. The helicopters were bought by the department of justice while they were to be operated by the Air Force.

In 1973 the Norwegian government started looking at possible ways to organise an air ambulance service in Norway. Before the government had made a decision, the foundation Norsk Luftambulanse had been founded in 1977 and provided one helicopter from its base at Lørenskog. In 1983 the government started buying services from the foundation, and in 1988 a nationwide air ambulance service was started where the government bought services from private companies.

By 1993 three companies had established themselves on the domestic air ambulance marked in Norway: Norsk Luftambulanse, Airlift and Lufttransport. In 2002 Norsk Luftambulanse bought Airlift, and merged the operations. In April 2006 the Air Ambulance Service has extended its contracts with Norsk Luftambulanse and Lufttransport until 2014.

Search and rescue helicopters
The Air Force 330 squadron has its headquarters at Sola Air Station outside Stavanger. The squadron operates out of four military airports: Sola Air Station, Ørland Main Air Station, Bodø Main Air Station and Banak Air Station. In addition there is a detachment at Rygge Air Station.

The squadron operates 12 Sea King helicopters and had 1 038 operations in 2005. At any given time the 330 squadron has five helicopters on standby, one at each station. The helicopters are under command of the respective Joint Rescue Coordination Centres located at Sola for Southern Norway (Rygge, Sola and Ørland) and Bodø for Northern Norway (Bodø and Banak). The primary function is search and rescue (SAR) but also some air ambulance operations.

Helicopter ambulances
The helicopter ambulances are located at 11 hospitals in the country. The helicopters are operated by the private company Lufttransport and the foundation Norsk Luftambulanse. Lufttransport operates a total of ten Agusta A109E Power and Eurocopter SA 365N/2/3 Dauphin helicopters while Norsk Luftambulanse operates a total of 13 Eurocopter EC 135 P2 and Eurocopter EC 145.

Helicopters are stationed at the hospitals in Arendal, Bergen, Brønnøysund, Dombås, Florø, Lørenskog, Stavanger, Tromsø, Trondheim, Ål and Ålesund. The helicopters must be airborn within 10-15 minutes.

Fixed wing ambulances
Plane ambulances are stationed at six airports in Norway. The service is provided by Lufttransport with 12 Beech King Air B200 aircraft. The airplanes are stationed at Alta Airport, Bodø Airport, Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen, Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, Tromsø Airport, Langnes and Ålesund Airport, Vigra.