Many stroke survivors worry about if and when they can fly after a stroke. Medical research shows a person can fly after a stroke, but they should consider the type of stroke they had, how long it’s been since the stroke and whether they want medical travel assistance during the flight.
If you plan to travel after having a stroke, it’s comforting to know that research has found having a history of a stroke does not put a person in danger during an airline flight. Having a past stroke does not mean a person should not fly.
But if a stroke has been more recent or a person simply has concerns about flying, they should consider several factors before booking their trip.
Strokes vary in type and severity. Stroke victims should consider their own unique circumstances. Experts do not have hard and fast rules that apply to everyone who has had a stroke. But the following factors can help you decide about flying.
Type of Stroke
The advice on when to fly could depend on the stroke. A full stroke involves the sudden loss of blood flow to the brain. However, many people experience a transient ischemic attack (TIA), which is known as a “mini-stroke” that resolves without permanent brain damage.
A TIA is like a stroke and considered a warning sign of stroke risk. Also, some medical disorders that lead to a TIA could pose a “very small risk” on flights, according to research compiled by Very Well Health. Those conditions include patent foramen ovale, paradoxical embolism or hypercoagulability. It’s important to know if you have those conditions.
Experts may vary on when they recommend you can fly. The Stroke Association recommends that it is “probably best to avoid flying for the first two weeks. This is the time when your problems are likely to be most severe and other conditions related to your stroke may come up.”
In the most severe stroke cases, patients may want to wait as long as three months. However, with a TIA, many people are safe to fly in 10 days.
Before booking a flight, people should consult with their doctor.
Some people who have had a stroke may prefer to hire medical professionals to fly with them. Doing so provides them a high degree of security in making the flight and ensures they get proper medical care if needed. Such help is found with non-emergency transport (NEMT) companies like Flying Angels.
Flying Angels provides a number of services that can support stroke victims when they fly. A Flight Coordinator books your flight, sets up all the arrangements with both airports and airlines, gets you through security and provides a flight nurse to help you throughout your journey. The company hires only nurses with a great deal of experience working in emergency rooms and who have training in providing medical care at high altitudes.
Stroke survivors may face challenges, but they still can live a full life. As with any serious condition, those who have had a stroke need to practice patience and planning. Travel by flight is certainly doable if they have the right amount of support. Consulting with a doctor and a medical transport service can give people the answers they seek about flying after a stroke. They also can provide the comfort, care and support they need to make the journey.
Flying Angels has gained a well-earned reputation over the years for providing a much-needed service that helps those with mobility issues, including seniors and those recovering from injuries and illness, travel by air and ground. Simply put, Flying Angels services help people get safely from Point A to Point B.
But because the non-emergency medical transport services the company offers are still relatively new to many, Flying Angels Director Bob Bacheler frequently explains what the company does in appearances at conferences and in interviews. He recently made an appearance on KAKE TV, the ABC affiliate in Wichita, Kansas, to discuss how Flying Angels services benefit people.
“What we do at Flying Angels is we have nurses and doctors who accompany people who have medical or cognitive needs,” Bacheler said in the interview. “We’re flying people who need medical attention, need to get long distances, and we’re flying them with a critical care-trained registered flight nurse on a regularly scheduled commercial airline — Delta, American, United — and getting them where they need to go.”
Bacheler noted that Flying Angels provides care for patients from “bedside to bedside.”
“You tell us where the person is and where you want him/her to go, and we take care of everything in between. We’ll get them to the airport, we’ll fly them safely under the care of a nurse, then we’ll take them to their final destination,” Bacheler said.
Some of the Main Services Provided By Flying Angels
Flying Angels specializes in having trained flight nurses travel with patients on commercial flights. Flying Angels will book all the accommodations for the patient’s trip and work with the airport and airlines for any special services needed, such as early seating on the aircraft and getting medical equipment through security.
They also provide services for:
Senior relocations: Assisting seniors in relocating to new homes by managing all flight arrangements and providing in-flight medical care, thereby reducing the stress associated with major life changes.
Medical Flights: Coordinating domestic and international travel for patients who cannot fly alone due to a chronic condition or injury, with flight nurses ensuring continuous medical supervision throughout the journey.
Hospital Discharge Transportation: Providing medical assistance during transitions from hospital to home or another care facility, ensuring quality care during this critical period.
Bacheler appeared on the KAKE TV interview with Katherine Ambrose, president of America’s Senior Home Coach, a company that offers a wide range of senior care services. She said Flying Angels is often key to helping families move seniors.
She said about 89% of seniors “don’t want to move out of their home, and so they wait until there’s an urgent crisis. Then, the family is in turmoil, and they might want Grandpa to move to where they are.
“How are they going to get him there? They could have somebody fly with him, or maybe they can drive them across the country, but he’s not in a condition to do that. So, this [Flying Angels] is the way.”
Bacheler said that in those situations, some families may think about hiring a neighbor or a friend to transport the senior. “But by using us, you’re actually having somebody who is experienced in flying, experienced in patient care, knows airports, knows what medical situations are, and can fly with them to where they need to go,” he said,
A Cost-Effective Service With a Global Reach
Flying Angels provides a cost-effective alternative to air ambulance. In the interview, Bacheler said the cost of an air ambulance can run as high as $40,000 to $100,000 for a flight across the country. Flying Angels, on the other hand, can provide services for the same distance at $10,000 or less.
“That’s the flights, the nurse, the ground transportation, the whole nine yards,” Bacheler said. “And it really doesn’t matter where you are in the country. If you’re 200 miles from the nearest airport, we’ll make the ground transportation arrangements to get you there.”
Living in a rural area does not prevent people from using Flying Angels’ services. Bacheler noted that Flying Angels also flies internationally, including trips to Africa. “If we can get somebody into the heart of the Congo, we can get them into any city in the U.S.,” he said.
Bacheler said Flying Angels often flies with patients to the other side of the world. “I have a nurse who’s on her way to Shanghai with a patient right now, and we’re routinely back and forth to India,” he said. “So, we have a global reach, we’re transporting patients all over the world.”
Medical Professionals Who are There to Prevent Emergencies
Bacheler said that while trained flight nurses are key to what Flying Angels does, he likes to tell people, “Our nurses are not necessarily there to react to emergencies. Our nurses are there to prevent emergencies.”
To that end, Flying Angels nurses travel with specialized equipment to support care for those with mobility impairment. They range from those who have been impacted by traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries to those who have suffered from strokes.
Bacheler said one of the frequently used devices is a “comfort carrier,” which is a transfer sling used to move patients in and out of their seats. Using the sling, he said Flying Angels nurses can “take somebody who has absolutely zero mobility, get them into our wheelchair, get them into their airline seat, or whatever is needed.”
Flying Angels has a specially designed wheelchair that provides maximum comfort and safety, including a special neck rest, which allows patients to relax while being transported. He said Flying Angels nurses carry portable oxygen concentrators for patients with oxygen dependency. They consistently monitor vital signs throughout a flight, including blood pressure and glucose.
All of this has helped Flying Angels emerge as a leading NEMT company. “We are very proud of our Google reviews,” Bacheler said. “I often tell people to just Google ‘Flying Angels’ and they’ll find that we have over 300 Google and Facebook reviews. I can talk forever about what we do, but realistically, what I care about is what our clients have said about us in the past.”
Ambrose added that Flying Angels is held in “very high regard, very high esteem,” and that Bacheler is known for his appearances at healthcare and senior care conferences. She laughed and told the KAKE TV host, “He’s kind of famous.”
Whether you’re relocating a loved one to a new care facility across the country or managing their journey with medical needs, Flying Angels is here to help. We offer comprehensive bedside-to-bedside non-emergency medical transport services for clients facing a wide range of health challenges. We also have five-star reviews of Flying Angels that show the effort we put into what we do.
Our expert flight nurses, who are registered nurses (RNs) with specialized training, are equipped to travel with clients who have dementia, diabetes, mobility issues, or conditions like broken bones, heart attacks, or strokes. We also provide care for wheelchair users and patients requiring oxygen or other medical equipment during their journey.
We’re extremely proud of the more than 255 five-star reviews of Flying Angels. They offer a glimpse into how our experience and approach to providing NEMT services benefits our clients. The following takes a closer look at some of those reviews.
Flying From California to Texas After Spinal Cord Surgery
L. Watts writes that his father in California had no family or friends to help care for him after a recent spinal cord surgery that left him a paraplegic. Watts lives in Texas and tried to manage his care from afar but wrote that it became “very difficult and quite stressful.”
He wrote that because his Dad was independent and self-sufficient, “adjusting to this new medical condition has been a tough journey.”
“Words cannot express my sincere gratitude for Flying Angels,” he wrote. He added, “We considered many options but ultimately decided that medical transport with Flying Angels was the best option for him to get to Texas. Not only was it the best option, but it also turned out to be an outstanding experience!”
He wrote that Flying Angels coordinated everything very efficiently, communicating well and answering any questions or concerns. “The flight nurse, Andrew, is very knowledgeable and passionate about his job. I cannot imagine how this would have gone without Andrew’s experience, patience, and compassion,” he wrote.
Flying Angels also came through when the airline canceled his father’s flight. Flying Angels quickly set up another flight with a different airline and got all the ground transportation set up. L. Watts wrote that “Andrew waited at the hospital with Dad the day before hoping for clearance and was readily on point once things got back on track for the journey home. We prayed and crossed our fingers for no more delays. Andrew communicated well with me the entire way and sent pictures of my Dad to reassure me that he was OK!”
“They finally made it to Houston, TX late that night and I met them at the receiving facility. Andrew stayed the course to make sure my Dad was well-received and settled in. This service went above and beyond my expectations and I would absolutely recommend this company to anyone that needs medical air transport for a loved one!”
Traveling From Colorado to Ohio After Having a Stroke
A reviewer who wrote under the name David French shared the story of having to move his Mom from Colorado to Ohio. She had suffered a stroke and lost mobility on her right side, making it impossible for French to transfer her from a wheelchair to an airplane seat.
French wrote that he initially looked into a van transport that would have required an 18-hour drive. He wrote that it would have been more expensive than what he paid Flying Angels. He also looked into a private jet, but that cost was “prohibitive, to put it mildly.” They eventually chose Flying Angels.
“Audrey was our RN and we couldn’t have been more pleased with her in every way. She introduced herself via text before we met her the night before our trip. She was thorough, personable, knowledgeable, confident, and understanding,” French wrote. “My mom and I knew we were in good hands as Audrey maneuvered us onto the transport van, through the airport, onto the flight, and then to my mom’s new facility. It gave us such peace of mind that we were even able to enjoy the experience. We highly recommend this service, which was truly a Godsend to us in every way.”
Senior Care on a Move from Idaho to Georgia
Another reviewer under the name Clark Savage wrote about having to move their 90-year-old, non-ambulatory mother from Boise, Idaho to Atlanta, Georgia. Like many people, Savage said he did not know where to begin.
“So, I Googled it and found Flying Angels. I have to admit thinking about the process filled me with apprehension and anxiety. But, from the moment I spoke to Elise in a preliminary consultation, I began to believe that I could do this move and that everything would work out.”
He wrote that the flight nurse, Chris Davis, was excellent. “Chris met us a day before the flight and connected with my mother. Throughout the entire process, Chris was knowledgeable, professional, empathetic, and kind,” he wrote. “Due to Chris’ exceptional skills, the flight was smooth and painless. When we tucked my mother to bed in Atlanta that night, she was smiling and happy, which made me thankful.”
He concluded that “there are not enough words in the English language for me to express my appreciation for Flying Angels. I recommend using them to the highest degree possible. If you have a precious cargo you need to relocate, use Flying Angels. They are outstanding!”
Providing Information and Confidence, Assured Help During Your Flight
Many reviews take the time to point out how the Flying Angels team, both the RN Flight Coordinator who books the trip and the flight nurse who travels with the patient, made the experience so much less stressful.
A review from a Google reviewer named Emily Riggall focused on a trip from Los Angeles to Atlanta, the flight coordinator was “exceptionally organized and communicative from the moment I first reached out to learn more about the company and their services. She patiently answered my millions of questions and was endlessly reassuring.”
She also had praise for the flight nurse, Chris, writing that he “was absolutely wonderful” and “truly took the time to talk with me and my family prior to travel. He was calm, collected, and confident throughout the trip. Chris was prepared and personable and made us all feel calm.”
Another review under the name of Indra Samaroo expressed similar sentiments about flying her Dad back to the United States from Trinidad. She wrote Flying Angels, which made the whole process so easy and affordable. Although I was scared how he was going to do on the trip, [the flight nurse] made sure that he was stable the entire trip. Words cannot express the amount of gratitude and peace I felt during the entire process. Thank you. Flying Angels.”
These types of five-star reviews of Flying Angels are plentiful on Google because of the time and commitment the company makes in providing the best possible care to clients. With years of experience and a track record of success, Flying Angels provides a needed service in the best possible way.
Contact Flying Angels to learn how they can meet your non-emergency medical transport needs.
After a major medical event like a stroke, heart attack a chronic illness, or serious injury, the path to recovery often includes a transition from a hospital to an inpatient rehabilitation facility, preferably a Center of Excellence. These specialized facilities are high in concentrations of expertise in a variety of medical areas and play a crucial role in helping patients regain their strength, relearn essential skills, and work towards maximum recovery and independence.
The transition to a rehabilitation facility can be a major logistical challenge, especially for those traveling long distances. This is where non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) services become invaluable resources.
NEMT providers specialize in offering safe, comfortable transportation for patients with medical needs. Whether it’s a short trip across town via ground transportation or a longer journey involving commercial air travel, these services ensure that patients make the transition to rehabilitation facilities smoothly and without complications that could hinder their recovery process.
Trained staff, specialized vehicles equipped with essential medical equipment, and door-to-door service minimize strain and offer peace of mind for patients and their families.
Patient-Centered Transitions to Rehabilitation Facilities
The journey from hospital to a rehabilitation facility, while often challenging, may be a crucial next step in the recovery process. By leveraging the services of NEMT providers, patients gain greater access, across the country, to specialized care – whether an elite stroke center, or a highly rated spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury rehabilitation facility (to name a few).
With patient-centered transitions that prioritize comfort and expert medical oversight, including the presence of flight nurses who travel with patients on commercial flights, the road to recovery can progress more smoothly. As healthcare continues to become more specialized, NEMT services remain an essential bridge, helping patients reach their chosen destinations for healing and rehabilitation.
The Importance of Centers of Excellence
For certain complex medical conditions or highly specialized treatments, patients may need to travel to designated Centers of Excellence. These facilities are renowned for their expertise, high-quality care, advanced research, and comprehensive services in specific areas of healthcare. These areas include stroke, cardiology, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, or cutting-edge cancer treatments, among others.
Centers of Excellence are nationally ranked, providing an unparalleled level of care and the latest evidence-based treatment protocols. These centers bring together multidisciplinary teams of specialists, and a commitment to exceptional patient outcomes. However, many of these elite facilities are limited in number across the country, necessitating that patients travel from far and wide to access their services.
NEMT for Long-Distance Travel
When a patient’s best option for care is at a distant Center of Excellence or rehabilitation facility, NEMT services enable the journey through a well-coordinated system of ground and air transportation. For instance, Flying Angels employs RN Flight Coordinators who work closely with patients, their families, and medical teams to plan every detail of the patient’s transportation. This includes scheduling commercial flights and arranging suitable ground transportation at both departure and arrival points.
Flying Angels follows stringent protocols and has qualified personnel to ensure that a patient’s medical needs are addressed throughout the entire trip. From managing medication schedules, to handling special equipment, the transportation process is handled with utmost care and precision.
On board planes, flight nurses accompany patients to monitor vitals, administer oxygen or IV fluids as needed, manage medications, and are prepared for any medical situations that may arise. This high level of care provides comfort to patients and allows family members to travel separately without the additional burden of overseeing complex medical needs.
Making the transition to rehabilitation facilities a safe and efficient experience is one of many services offered through NEMT providers. Flying Angels exemplifies how expertise, trained personnel, and a commitment to using the latest equipment can make these transitions smoother and more manageable than ever before.
Flying Angels specializes in non-emergency medical transport. It’s an important service that ensures safe medical travel by offering people the opportunity to fly with an experienced flight nurse when they make a trip with a commercial airline. Flight nurses have extensive medical knowledge and experience, including expertise in providing care at high altitudes.
The service also includes the booking of all travel accommodations by an RN flight coordinator, who also work with airports and airlines to make any pre-trip arrangements that make the flight go smoother. Flight nurses also manage all medications and medical equipment. Flying Angels specializes in reducing the concerns of travel for a wide variety of people from those injured on vacation to seniors relocating to a new home.
What Is Non-Emergency Medical Transport?
High quality NEMT service plays a crucial role in ensuring safe medical travel for patients who require medical attention but do not need emergency services. They go beyond the classic non-emergency transport that carries people to and from medical appointments. Flying Angels’ NEMT services involve traveling with clients on commercial flights, ensuring safe medical travel by making comfort and safety a priority.
They also provide people with the peace of mind of traveling with trained and experienced flight nurses. They can provide medical assistance during the journey if the need arises, ensuring the patient’s well-being throughout the trip.
For patients with medical conditions, recent injuries, or even recent surgeries, travel can seem stressful and anxiety-inducing. Quality NEMT services alleviate this stress by providing a smooth and reliable experience, allowing patients to focus on the journey rather than worrying about transportation logistics or managing medicine.
Who Uses Safe Medical Travel?
The safe medical travel provided by Flying Angels is available for people in a wide variety of situations. No matter the situation, the focus is on providing reliable medical and travel services that make the journey safer and more enjoyable for clients. Some of the situations where NEMT services can provide significant support include the following.
Those with medical conditions. People who have chronic conditions that impact their mobility or cognition may feel safer traveling with a flight nurse. This can also include those who have recently recovered from a stroke or a heart attack.
Senior relocations. Families may hire NEMT services to provide medical assistance for their aging parents as they relocate, including a flight nurse who makes the relocation journey with them. They can help them navigate the airport, find the best seats on the plane, and more.
Nursing home or assisted living facility transfers. When individuals need to move between nursing homes, assisted living facilities, or home care in a different part of the country, NEMT can provide a suitable means of transportation.
Hospital discharges. After a hospital stay, some patients may require NEMT to return home or move to another healthcare facility for continued care or rehabilitation. This is especially true for those discharged from hospitals in foreign countries who need medical services for the flight home.
Flying Angels supports safe medical travel through NEMT services that keep patients healthy and comfortable during their trip on a commercial airline. They provide a reliable, needed service for people in a variety of situations who require assistance when they travel.
