Den Landsdækkende Akutlægehelikopterordning

Den Landsdækkende Akutlægehelikopterordning is Denmark's national doctor staffed air ambulance scheme. This is a public health programme, not an airline. The five Danish regions run it together. The secretariat sits in Aarhus. Its website is in Danish, with an English version.

Services

The scheme adds specialist doctor care to emergency work in areas where time and distance call for it. It also gets people fast medical help and quick transport to highly specialised treatment. The helicopters are staffed day and night.

Aircraft and bases

Four helicopters are based at Skive, Billund, Ringsted and Saltum. There is also a reserve helicopter. Three are Airbus H135 and two are H145. Norsk Luftambulanse A/S is the supplier of the scheme, so it provides the flight service. The helicopters carry night vision goggles, weather and search radar and modern GPS navigation.

The crew

Each crew has three people: a pilot, a pre-hospital emergency doctor and a HEMS rescuer who is trained as a paramedic. The doctors are experienced specialists in anesthesia. The site says the helicopter must be airborne within 4.5 minutes of an alarm in daytime.

The scheme says its aim is the right help for the right patient at the right time in Denmark. Decisions about running and growing the scheme are taken by the steering group.

Facts

• Type: public programme run jointly by the five Danish regions
• Steering group: made up of members from all five regions
• Secretariat: Præhospitalet, Region Midtjylland, Aarhus
• Flight supplier: Norsk Luftambulanse A/S
• History: the site says the permanent scheme began in 2014 and a fourth helicopter was added in 2019