Repatriation
What good medical repatriation looks like: matching the clinical picture to the right mode of transport, and coordinating bed to bed rather than simply arranging a flight home.
Can you fly after a heart attack?
Usually yes, often sooner than people expect after an uncomplicated heart attack treated with a stent. What decides the wait, how stents and angina change it, and what to sort out before booking.
Can you fly after surgery?
Usually yes, once any gas left inside the body has gone and the wound is healing. How long that takes after abdominal, keyhole, eye and orthopaedic surgery, and who makes the call.
Can you fly with a cast?
Usually yes, once the cast has had time to settle or has been split. Many airlines set rules for casts fitted in the last day or two. What applies to a broken arm, wrist or leg.
Can you fly with an ear infection?
Usually yes with an outer ear infection. A middle ear infection with a blocked nose is often better delayed. What decides it, how to protect the ear on descent, and who to ask first.
Can you fly with broken ribs?
Usually yes, once a collapsed lung has been ruled out or has fully healed and you can breathe deeply without severe pain. Why a pneumothorax is the deciding question, and how long people commonly wait.
Can you fly with COPD?
Usually yes, if your COPD is stable, though some people need oxygen in flight. What a cabin does to lungs with COPD, when to be tested first, and when to wait after a flare-up.
Can you fly with DVT?
Usually yes, once anticoagulation is established and symptoms are settling. What changes after a pulmonary embolism, how long people commonly wait, and how to lower the risk of another clot on the flight.
Can you fly with high blood pressure?
Usually yes, if your blood pressure is controlled and you feel well. Very high readings or new symptoms change that. What actually decides it, and what to sort out before you travel.
Can you fly with a chest infection?
Often yes, once the fever has gone, the infection is clearly improving and you can walk without getting badly breathless. There is no fixed number of days. What decides it, and when to wait.
Can you fly after a brain bleed?
Usually not straight away. Guidance commonly asks for any air inside the skull to clear on a scan first, which typically takes about a week, and the bleed itself often needs longer. What decides it.
Can you fly after a stroke?
Often within days after an uncomplicated stroke in someone stable, but longer after a bleed, clot-removing treatment or where the patient needs help. Why the early days carry the risk, and what decides it.
Can you fly with a broken leg?
Usually yes, but a fresh cast often has to be split first, and a leg that cannot bend may need extra seats, a premium cabin or a stretcher. What airlines require, and what decides it clinically.
What a medical repatriation actually costs, bed to bed
Published repatriation prices are the price of an aircraft. These are the price of getting somebody home: escort, stretcher, air ambulance and road, all in, with what actually moves the number.
What good repatriation actually looks like
An air ambulance can cost a fortune, but the right clinical call is often a nurse-escorted commercial flight or a UK receiving bed, not a jet. Good repatriation protects the patient and the claim at the same time.
Talk to us about this
Our clinical and operational teams are here to help, whether you're managing a live case, reviewing a caseload, or exploring a partnership.