ACS swings into action for urgent blood plasma shipment
01 / 07 / 2024
Source: Air Charter Service
Air Charter Service’s time-critical division utilised a private jet and on-board courier to ensure an urgent shipment of blood plasma was delivered in time.
The blood plasma shipment needed to be transported from Manchester in the UK to a hospital in San Francisco in a limited timeframe, had to be kept cool during the process and was not allowed to be x-rayed by customs.
To make sure the shipment arrived in time, the charter firm decided to utilise its on-board courier service.
ACS Time Critical director Oliver Weigelt said: “This needed one of our onboard couriers, with the necessary experience to carry out this kind of medical transfer, so a member of our time critical team in Frankfurt jumped on the next flight to Manchester to wait at the hospital for the surgery to be completed.
“We then learnt that the operation to extract the blood from the donor was going to take much longer than expected. The only solution at this stage was a private jet charter to deliver the shipment in time.
“We were able to contact the San Francisco office’s private jet division, who quickly sourced a Bombardier Global Express with last-minute availability in Europe, which immediately flew into Manchester.
“With the life-saving box in hand, our courier contacted security at the airport to prepare for a quick screening of the box, ensuring it was kept in the right conditions. He then called ahead to the pilots, advising them to be ready for an immediate departure.”
The flight took 12 hours and it was arranged for a customs agent to board the aircraft and expedite clearance of the shipment instead of processing it in the terminal.
“The plasma was successfully delivered to the hospital in San Francisco less than 13 hours after the extraction surgery was completed in Manchester,” said Weigelt.
