What international medical repatriation is
Medical repatriation is the assisted transfer of a patient from a hospital or healthcare facility abroad to another facility — usually in their country of residence — when their condition requires an equipped vehicle and qualified crew. It's the service Italian citizens need when they get injured or ill while travelling in Europe, and that European patients admitted to Italian hospitals need to return home.
When medical repatriation is needed
- Accident or illness during a holiday abroad
- Hospital admission requiring continuation of care in Italy
- Hospital discharge far from home with a non-self-sufficient patient
- Scheduled transfer to specialist European clinics
- Rehabilitation, oncology therapy or surgery at centres of excellence
- Return of elderly or chronic patients after a stay abroad
How we organise the transport
From the moment of the request, we follow a structured protocol to ensure clinical safety and quick turnaround:
- 1. Clinical assessment. We collect the medical record and the treating doctor's report to define the level of on-board care required.
- 2. Logistics planning. We choose the best mode — road ambulance, ambulance + ferry, or stretcher on commercial flight — based on distance and urgency.
- 3. Paperwork. We handle informed consent, health authorisations, customs paperwork and direct contact with the patient's insurance operations centre.
- 4. Transport execution. Crew on the road within hours, continuous contact with the family and the receiving hospital, handover at the facility.
Available transport modes
For European routes we mainly use long-range road ambulances (France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany), in some cases combined with overnight ferries (Greece, Spain). For longer distances or critical patients we organise stretcher transport on commercial flights with oxygen cylinders and medical escort, or dedicated air ambulances.
Cost and quote
The cost of a medical repatriation depends on the country of origin, distance, crew type and transport mode. We provide a detailed free quote within minutes of the request. We can issue the invoice directly to the patient's travel or health insurer and liaise with their operations centre.