The Norwegian Air Ambulance Service (

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

: ''Den norske luftambulansetjenesten'') is organised through the government owned limited company Luftambulansetjenesten HF (formerly ''Helseforetakenes Nasjonale Luftambulansetjeneste ANS''). The service provides

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

emergency medical service (HEMS) and

fixed-wing A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct ...

air ambulance operations. Dedicated planes are provided at seven bases, and helicopters at 13. In addition the service depends on the state Search and rescue helicopters for a full national coverage. The fixed-wing aircraft and HEMS helicopters are operated by the private companies

Lufttransport Lufttransport is a Norwegian helicopter and fixed-wing airline that operates primarily air ambulance helicopters and planes for the Norwegian and Swedish governments. In addition the airline offers services including surveillance for the Norwegian ...

and Norsk Luftambulanse on contract for the Air Ambulance Service. The rescue helicopters are operated by the

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) ( no, Luftforsvaret, , The Air Defence) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximatel ...

330 squadron.

History

Air ambulance Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...

services in Norway have been operated by private companies and the military since the 1920s, but the first dedicated service came in 1972 when the Air Force 330 squadron was equipped with

Westland Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila ...

Sea King helicopters. The helicopters were purchased by the ministry of justice while they were to be operated by the Air Force. In 1973 the Norwegian government started looking at possible ways to organise an air ambulance service in Norway. Before the government had made a decision, the foundation Norsk Luftambulanse had been founded in 1977 and provided one helicopter from its base at

Lørenskog is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. A suburb of Oslo, it is part of the Oslo urban area and the traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lørenskog. Lørenskog was separ ...

. In 1983 the government started buying services from the foundation, and in 1988 a nationwide air ambulance service was started where the government bought services from private companies. By 1993 three companies had established themselves on the domestic air ambulance marked in Norway: Norsk Luftambulanse, Airlift and Lufttransport. In 2002 Norsk Luftambulanse bought the air ambulance operation from Airlift, and merged the operations. In April 2006 the Air Ambulance Service has extended its contracts with Norsk Luftambulanse and Lufttransport until 2014.

Operations

Helicopter emergency medical service

The helicopter ambulances are located on heliports at 11 hospitals around the country. The helicopters are operated by the private companies Lufttransport and Norsk Luftambulanse. Lufttransport operates a total of 10

AgustaWestland AW139 The AgustaWestland AW139 is a medium-lift twin-engined helicopter developed and produced by the Anglo-Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland, later wholly owned by Leonardo S.p.A. It is marketed at several different roles, including V ...

while Norsk Luftambulanse operates a total of 1
Airbus H135-T3
an
H145-T2
for the service. Helicopters are stationed at the hospitals in Arendal,

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

Brønnøysund Brønnøysund () is a town and the administrative centre of Brønnøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is also a former municipality within Nordland county. The village of Brønnøysund originally was declared a ladested in 1923 wh ...

Dombås is a village or small town in Dovre Municipality in northern Innlandet county, Norway. The village serves as the commercial centre for the upper Gudbrandsdalen valley. It lies at an important junction of roads with the European route E6 highway ...

Evenes Evenes ( sme, Evenášši) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Ofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bogen. Other villages in Evenes include Liland, Tårst ...

Førde Førde is a former municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative center was the town of Førde which in 2016 had 10,255 inhabitants. Other villages in Førd ...

, Stavanger,

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

, Ål and

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrativ ...

. The helicopters must be airborne within 15 minutes '.

Fixed-wing ambulances

Plane ambulances are stationed at six airports in Norway. The service is provided by Lufttransport with 12 Beech King Air B200 aircraft. The airplanes are stationed at Alta Airport,

Bodø Airport Bodø Airport ( no, Bodø lufthavn; ) is a civil airport in the town of Bodø in Bodø Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Located just south of the city centre, on the westernmost tip of the Bodø peninsula, it shares facilities with the mi ...

, Brønnøysund Airport,

Gardermoen Oslo Airport ( no, Oslo lufthavn; ), alternatively referred to as Oslo Gardermoen Airport or simply Gardermoen, is the international airport serving Oslo, Norway, the capital and most populous city in the country. A hub for Flyr, Norse Atla ...

Tromsø Airport Tromsø Airport ( no, Tromsø lufthavn; ) is an international airport located at Langnes in the city of Tromsø in Tromsø Municipality, Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Situated on the western shore of the island of Tromsøya, it features a r ...

, Kirkenes and Ålesund Airport.

Search and rescue helicopters

The Air Force 330 squadron has its headquarters at

Sola Air Station Sola Air Station ( no, Sola flystasjon) is a base for the Royal Norwegian Air Force. It is located in Sola municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. Rescue Helicopter Service is stationed at Sola along with Helicopter Squadron 330. Also located ...

outside Stavanger. The squadron operates out of four military airports:

Ørland Main Air Station Ørland Main Air Station (Norwegian: Ørland hovedflystasjon) is situated at the mouth of the Trondheimsfjorden in the municipality of Ørland in Trøndelag county in the center of Norway. Ørland is operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force and i ...

, Bodø Main Air Station, Banak Air Station and Rygge Air Station. The squadron operates 12 Sea King helicopters and had 1 038 operations in 2005 ''^{citation needed

" itation needed''" is a tag added by Wikipedia editors to unsourced statements in articles requesting citations to be added. The phrase is reflective of the policies of verifiability and no original research on Wikipedia and has become a gen ...
]}''. RNOAF 330 Squadron is in the process of retiring its Westland Sea Kings, and replace them with Augusta Westland AW-101. As of late 2022, they have received 11 out of 16 AW-101s. At any given time the 330 squadron has six helicopters on 15 minutes readiness, one at each station. The helicopters are under command of the

Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Southern Norway The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Southern Norway or JRCC SN ( no, Hovedredningssentralen i Sør-Norge) is a rescue coordination center located in Sola which is responsible for coordinating major search and rescue (SAR) operations in Norway ...

located at

Sola Sola is a municipality and a Seaside resort in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Solakrossen. Other villages include Tananger, Hål ...

which is responsible for

Southern Norway Southern Norway ( no, Sørlandet; lit. "The Southland") is the geographical region (''landsdel'') along the Skagerrak coast of southern Norway. The region is an informal description since it does not have any governmental function. It rough ...

(Rygge, Sola, Florø and Ørland) and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Northern Norway located at Bodø which is responsible for Northern Norway (Bodø and Banak) ''^{citation needed

" itation needed''" is a tag added by Wikipedia editors to unsourced statements in articles requesting citations to be added. The phrase is reflective of the policies of verifiability and no original research on Wikipedia and has become a gen ...
]}''. The primary function is search and rescue (SAR) but several hundred air ambulance missions are undertaken each year.

References

External links

330 Squadron Website

Air Ambulance Service
{{Portal bar, Aviation, Medicine, Norway