Guides
Type C — mobile intensive care
For critical or unstable patients who need care on the road close to what an ICU ward provides.
What this means for you
Type C brings intensive-care capability onto the road: advanced monitoring, ventilation, complex infusions — matched to the case.
It is not automatically “faster”; it is “more capable” for severely ill patients.
Cost is higher because crew and equipment match the need — and because the wrong alternative would be unsafe.
When type C is discussed
- Critical patient / major post-procedure / device-dependent.
- Real risk of deterioration during the journey.
- Destination with ICU or equivalent care.
Guidelines and legal frame (briefly)
- Transfer of critical patients requires team and equipment proportional to risk — a shared principle in emergency / intensive-care guidance.
- Sometimes type C on the road is safer than a poorly prepared flight.
- If even type C ground care is not enough (time, altitude, extreme instability), dedicated air ambulance coordination is discussed.
- Type C authorisation and equipment follow the legal frame for ambulance services.
What families should know
- Preparing the right devices and crew can take time.
- Personal luggage is secondary to space for care.
- We will say beforehand what we can and cannot do on the road.
- Type C is for the organised transfer of critical patients: an ICU crew and intensive-care equipment on board.
General information based on good practice in medical transfer: assess before transfer, continuity of care, clear handover. It does not replace a physician’s assessment.