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March 04-05, 2019 | London, UK
European Nursing Congress
Journal of Intensive and Critical Care Nursing | Volume 2
Going Global: Medical Assistance and Flight Nursing
Kerryn Mcgowran
International SOS, UK
Air travel is becoming increasingly more common and
accessible to all, bringing with it the complexities of how
to manage illness or accident while away from home. Nursing
plays a critical role in the provision of medical assistance and
enabling patients to optimise their medical care in different
international healthcare settings.
Standards of care vary greatly from country to country and
having medical oversight of the care being provided is essential
to optimise treatment and clinical outcomes. Patients may
often require more complex care than can be provided locally
or, because of a change in their core functional abilities, they
may need in-flight medical assistance to be able to travel home.
Determining patients’ fitness to travel requires a complex risk-
assessment and decision-making process.
Flight nursing is a complex and challenging specialist field of
nursing which focuses on ensuring that all medical, logistical
and aviation considerations are properly addressed so that
patients can be delivered safely home. Flight nurses are able
to provide and deliver suitable levels of care in the challenging
flight environment. It is their responsibility to see that patients
receive safe, effective and high-quality care during their
transport via aircraft, as well as addressing the significant
logistical and geographical difficulties involved in managing a
safe transfer.
This presentation explores these challenges and the role of a
flightnurse inensuringsafepatient transfersacross international
boundaries.
Speaker Biography
Kerryn McGowran is the Director of Nursing – Assistance, EMEA at International SOS
London. Since joining International SOS 13 years ago, Kerryn has held progressively
more senior roles in medical assistance with experience working on and managing both
corporate and Government contracts. She has extensive practical experience as a flight
nurse transferring patients on commercial airlines for the company, and developing the
medical transportation process. In her current role she is responsible for the professional
leadership of a large team of nursing staff across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Originally
from Australia, Kerryn has a Bachelor of Science - Nursing from Curtin University, and has
a strong background in emergency care and hospital based medicine. She also holds a
Diploma in Tropical Nursing from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Kerryn is Deputy Chair for the Royal College of Nursing Critical care and inflight nursing
forum, which supports nurses working within critical care and aviation medicine nationally.
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