ANWB Medical Air Assistance

ANWB Medical Air Assistance, or MAA, is a helicopter operator in Lelystad, in the Netherlands. It flies medical helicopters for emergency care. It is an independent subsidiary of the Dutch travel organisation ANWB.

Services

MAA flies the trauma helicopter for four trauma centres. On these flights the helicopter carries a mobile medical team of a doctor, a nurse and the pilot. The helicopter that carries the mobile medical team is usually called the trauma helicopter or Lifeliner. The teams come from the university hospitals it flies for. MAA also flies an ambulance helicopter for the regional ambulance service of Fryslan, which carries patients from the Wadden islands. It also flies for public bodies and event organisers. Service runs seven days a week, around the clock.

Aircraft and bases

The company runs eight helicopters. Six are Airbus EC135 trauma helicopters. Two are Airbus EC145 ambulance helicopters. Together they cover the whole country. The four trauma centres served are Amsterdam UMC (location VUmc), Erasmus MC, Radboudumc and UMC Groningen.

Who it is for

The service covers the whole of the Netherlands, with the ambulance helicopter working for Fryslan and the islands.

The ambulance helicopter flying for Fryslan is called Medic01. The Netherlands government has named the four trauma centres that may fly a mobile medical team by helicopter. The site also has pages on flight operations, safety rules for people near a landing helicopter, and school projects.

Facts

• The ANWB and VU medical centre started a helicopter care pilot on 1 May 1995
• The company says it has more than 38 pilots and about 50 staff
• Owner: ANWB, as an independent subsidiary
• Legal name: ANWB Medical Air Assistance BV