EC135 ADVANCES CARE
The transition to the Airbus Helicopters EC135 in early 2022 brought tangible improvements to the quality of in-flight medical care. The EC135 is a modern light twin-engine helicopter widely used for air ambulance operations across Europe, with its most immediately practical
advantage being its cabin
space. In the previous aircraft, only one medical crew member could sit alongside the patient during flight, with the other positioned beside the pilot — a limitation that constrained in-flight treatment. The EC135’s larger cabin allows both the physician and the emergency nurse to sit with the patient throughout the flight, improving the standard of care that can be delivered en route.
The aircraft is also significantly quieter than its predecessors, a detail that matters more than it might seem: emergency situations are already acutely stressful for patients and a quieter cabin reduces that burden. The improved layout has had a direct operational effect; more patients are now transported by air rather than being stabilized on-scene and
handed over to a ground ambulance. The EC135 can carry one patient in either a lying or a semi-seated position.
NUMBERS TELL THE STORY
The growth in annual interventions since 1986 illustrates how central the helicopter has become to West Flanders’ emergency medical system. In 1987, its first full year under IMDH management, the helicopter completed approximately 200 interventions. By 2016, that figure had risen to 843. A dip to 611 occurred in 2021, probably attributable to the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic period, but the rebound was swift; by 2024, the service set a new record of 887 interventions — 501 in West Flanders, 381 in East Flanders, and five in the Dutch province of Zeeland.
Then came 2025. The helicopter surpassed 1,000 interventions in a single calendar year for the first time in its history. Along the way, it also set a single-day record of 10 interventions. The breakdown of 2025 call types reveals the scope of the work: cardiac and respiratory emergencies made up the largest share,
while trauma cases — including traffic accidents, falls from height, and cycling accidents — accounted for roughly 200 interventions. More than 50 of those were full resuscitation calls. At least one intervention took place in France, reflecting the occasional cross-border reach of the service.
Not every dispatch results in a patient being transported. In 2024, more than 100 of the 887 dispatches were cancelled after the initial call; by the time the helicopter arrived or was en route, its intervention was no longer required. Of those that did proceed, just over 100 patients were transported by air; the remainder were treated on-scene and transferred to ground ambulances. Statistically, the helicopter ranks as the fifth largest MUG service in a province served by approximately 10 ground-based MUG units. The service is estimated to save approximately 40 lives per year that would otherwise have been lost if the fastest available response had been a road vehicle.
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