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Hawaii Air Ambulance
gets global accreditation

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Star-Bulletin staff

Hawaii Air Ambulance, which serves 10 Hawaii airports with five Cessna 414A aircraft equipped as flying ambulances, said it has received international approval of its aviation, medical and other services in the form of accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems.

HAA is one of 68 aeromedical companies to receive the CAMTS qualification, out of some 400 that are in the business, said Andrew Kluger, HAA chief executive officer. "We had to meet the highest standards in emergency medical care, pilot qualifications, aircraft maintenance and in communications and timeliness," Kluger said.

HAA runs 10-13 flights a day and most are airport-to-airport, but the company also provides bed-to-bed transportation for extremely critical patients. It also arranges some Hawaii-mainland private charter medical flights and is working on an agreement to provide weekly medical air transportation for Guam, American Samoa and the Marshall Islands, Kluger said.

He said the accreditation process took about two years and the result is particularly gratifying because three years ago HAA was on the brink of bankruptcy.