There are several types of medical transport that exist to help save lives during a catastrophe, medical emergencies, or traffic accidents. Here is a breakdown of some of these various types of medical transportation that include air ambulance service, non-emergency medical transport and private ambulance service companies.

Advanced Life Support Transport, also known as ALS care, is a unit that carries a certified paramedic. These units provide transport from the scene of an accident to the nearest emergency care facility. Usually they are dispatched through a phone call to the 911 systems after a medical trauma like a car accident, stroke or other life-threatening medical condition. This type of medical transport is usually equipped with many different kinds of medical equipment for saving lives including heart monitors, heart paddles, IV units and ECG monitors.

Basic Life Support Transport, also known as BLS, carries a certified Emergency Medical Technician on board. This is the type of medical transport service that provides non-emergency transportation. The patient is monitored by many different types of advanced medical equipment on the way to their next destination to make sure that the patient gets there in good shape. There are also types of private ambulance service that can offer this type of medical transportation as well. Generally speaking, the higher the cost of the transfer, the better and more state-of-the-art the life saving equipment on board will be.

Critical Care Transport, also known as CCT, has a certified registered nurse or a paramedic (or both) on board depending on the severity of the medical condition of the patient. Critical care transport can be a type of private ambulance service or it can be a public service. It is generally used for patients who require critical care between hospitals, medical facilities, etc. The patient in this case might have multiple IV drips, ventilators, balloon pumps and other devices attached to their body to keep them alive.

Neonatal Intensive Care Transport, also known as NIC, transports the medical team from the health care facility to the patient’s location and provides specialized equipment such as incubators and clinical assistance. It also transfers the patient and medical team to the receiving facility for these occasions when a transport requires a highly skilled medical response. Some air ambulance companies also provide this service for extreme cases.

Pediatric Team Ambulance Transport, also known as PTA, transports the medical team from the health care facility to the scene of a birth to provide specialized equipment such as incubators and clinical assistance. This type of pediatric medical transportation can be provided by ground, air or even boat. There are facilities on board to take care of the birth of child in case it happens in the ambulance during the transport to the hospital.

Wheelchair or Stretcher Van Services are special ambulance companies that allow for the transportation of mobility-impaired individuals. A similar type of ambulance transport is a Bariatic Care Unit transport, which specializes in the transportation of obese patients to the hospital. These can be quite large and highly specialized transportation units as some of these patients are too heavy to be supported by the structure of a regular ambulance or medical van.