Behind every medical repatriation, there is someone who is never on the plane — yet whose decisions determine everything: the onboard team, the equipment carried, the time of departure, and sometimes, the outcome of the transport. At Airmedic, this responsibility rests with the clinical coordinator. Anaïs Desautels embodies this strategic role at the heart of operations.
The Role of a Clinical Coordinator at Airmedic
For Anaïs, the best way to describe her role is straightforward: to be the go-to person for everything related to the medical side of a repatriation.
” From assessing the file before the repatriation, to taking reports and coordinating between two hospitals in two different countries. During the mission, we are there to support the nurses in the field and resolve any patient-related issues. It is a role that is always challenging and extremely stimulating. ”
In concrete terms, this means evaluating the feasibility of a transport, structuring the mission, and selecting the right human and material resources. It also involves supporting in-flight teams if the patient’s condition evolves. Moreover, every decision relies on rigorous communication and precise analysis.
A Field Career That Shapes Aeromedical Coordination
Before moving into her role as clinical coordinator, Anaïs built a solid foundation in the field. She accumulated ten years of experience as a nurse, primarily in intensive care, where she developed rapid, structured judgment in critical situations.
It was then as a flight nurse that she discovered a different reality — providing care at 40,000 feet, in a confined space, far from any hospital resources. In just a year and a half, she completed 52 repatriations across 30 different countries.
” After a year and a half as a full-time flight nurse, I wanted to see another side of this field and play a more central role in aeromedical operations. I enjoy having an overview of the entire operation. ”
This desire for a global perspective and leadership naturally guided her toward coordination, and her field expertise was quickly recognized. Notably, she was entrusted with developing training for new flight nurses and reviewing the equipment sent on missions.
Reading Between the Lines: Assessing a Patient Remotely
One of the most demanding aspects of the clinical coordinator role is evaluating a patient’s condition without ever seeing them. Each file begins with a careful review of the medical notes, followed by a telephone report with the treating facility. However, obtaining reliable information at the international level is in itself a significant challenge.
Indeed, the way care is organized varies enormously from one country to another. The roles of nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals are not the same everywhere. In addition to this, language barriers and the sometimes limited availability of on-site teams further complicate matters. As a result, what is documented in a medical file and what is learned by speaking directly with the treating team can paint two very different pictures of the same patient.
Faced with these obstacles, Anaïs takes a proactive approach. She calls the hospital back and seeks out missing information. If the facility is slow to cooperate, she contacts the insurance company funding the repatriation, whose intervention often unblocks communication.
It is this constant cross-referencing of sources that allows a reliable picture of the patient to be built before the plane even takes off. If doubts remain about the patient’s condition, Anaïs consults the on-call administrative physicians at Airmedic. The more precise the information, the more the mission plan will be tailored to the patient’s actual situation.
Anticipating the Risks of Aeromedical Transport
The clinical assessment primarily serves to anticipate everything that could go wrong along the way. Certain signals directly influence the decision.
” If a patient’s oxygen needs are too high, or if their hemoglobin is too low, we will not be able to repatriate them. Those issues must be addressed first. ”
Nevertheless, these signals do not automatically lead to a refusal of transport. Instead, they trigger an optimization process, in collaboration with the treating physicians and the on-call administrative physicians at Airmedic.
” A medical no-go is temporary. We reassess the patient within 48 hours to ensure we are not putting them at risk. . ”
When faced with pressure from families or commercial deadlines, Anaïs is clear:
” We have to explain that we need to take the time required for evaluation and mission preparation. If we do not carry out our due diligence, we could put the patient’s life at risk. Therefore, cutting corners would not serve anyone’s best interests. . ”
A strong professional ethic, aligned with the OIIQ code of conduct, guides every decision, even when urgency pushes for speed. Furthermore, in cases where optimization remains impossible, the team works with partners and the family to establish an appropriate care plan, always in accordance with the patient’s wishes.
Building a Tailored Mission
A reliable clinical picture is the starting point. After that, aeromedical coordination moves into a concrete phase: structuring the mission.
Human Resources
The composition of the team is directly based on the patient’s clinical profile. Each professional brings a specific background and set of skills, carefully considered when assigning missions. Anaïs ensures the right combination is deployed — nurse, respiratory therapist, physician — depending on what the patient’s condition requires.
” If a patient is at risk of decompensating at altitude, I put a full team on the flight. If the patient requires oxygen, I need a respiratory therapist. On all our flights, there is always a nurse. ”
A structured briefing is also organized before each departure. A pre-assessment document summarizing the medical file and telephone reports is provided to the medical team. Consequently, this moment allows potential complications to be anticipated and different intervention plans to be defined for various scenarios.
Material Resources and Logistics
Material preparation is equally rigorous. Using the MyAirOps platform, the quantity of medications and oxygen autonomy are calculated based on the total duration of care and the identified risks — from the patient’s bedside to the handover at the receiving hospital.
“At 40,000 feet, we cannot afford to run out of supplies.“
Once the team and equipment are confirmed, there is still a series of concrete obstacles to overcome before departure. Finding an available bed in the hospital that will receive the patient in Quebec, working around scheduling restrictions at facilities, and adapting to the specificities of the country of origin. Bed research, in particular, is often what takes the most time.
Sometimes, it is the entire environment that complicates coordination. During a mission in Sri Lanka, for instance, the time difference slowed down exchanges, logistics for ensuring the safety of flight nurses on the ground were more demanding, and local medical practices diverged from Quebec standards. Certain advice given to the patient by the local hospital, regarding the management of their condition or their medication, did not align with practices here. As a result, the team had to revisit all of those explanations from scratch.
“Sometimes we have to deconstruct the education the patient received at the hospital and re-educate them according to our standards of care.“
Calm in the Storm
In this profession, missions do not arrive one at a time. Multiple files, multiple countries, multiple departures to coordinate simultaneously, this is often the day-to-day reality. And it is here that experience in critical care proves its full value.
” With a background in critical care, staying calm in the storm is a quality I developed many years ago. I quickly review each file and prioritize them according to their departure dates and complexity. I delegate the simpler files. ”
In addition, the responsibility for a mission never rests on a single person. On the contrary, it relies on a team, solid procedures, and support mechanisms at every stage.
Aeromedical coordination is a profession that cannot be improvised. It is built on years of field experience, a deep understanding of clinical realities, and the ability to keep a cool head when pressure mounts. Behind every successful mission lies a series of invisible decisions, made quickly, rigorously, and always in the patient’s best interest. That is precisely what Anaïs embodies, one mission at a time.
