Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, in collaboration with Shaanxi Helicopter Co. Ltd. (SHC) and Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, announced the successful completion of an Air Medical Services (AMS) training exercise in China. This exercise is an initial step toward developing air medical capability for the Implementation Program for a Joint Pilot of Aviation Medical Rescue launched earlier this year by the National Health Commission of China and the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC).

“Together with SHC, we are excited to be leading the development of an Air Medical Services network in China,” said Jacinto Monge, Bell Managing Director for North Asia. “During the two-week event, expertise on best practices was shared through academic seminars and practical training using real-life simulations.”

With the support from Med-Trans Corporation, a leading US air medical service company, more than 50 people from Shaanxi Helicopter and the People’s Hospital participated in the exercise which covered aviation safety practices and culture, functions and responsibilities for medical transport, flight planning and decision making, crew resource management and flight physiology. In addition, an introduction to the cross-functional coordination among emergency response, medical care, dispatch and aviation was provided to create a safe and effective air medical network solution for China.

Research from The Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) and ASCEND, has shown that air medical services can significantly reduce the mortality rate of patients and improve the outcome of treatment. At present, there are more than 1,200 civilian air medical helicopters serving 320 million people in the United States; China currently has less than 100 civilian air medical helicopters serving 1.4 billion people. China’s central government plans to build a modern healthcare system which will include an extensive air medical services network.