Programs, usually staffed by volunteer private pilots, that provide flight services for medical missions which may include transporting human organs and tissue for transplants; plasma or whole blood; anatomical specimens for medical research; medical personnel, equipment and supplies; and, in instances of medical and financial need, individual patients who require services from health care facilities that they would be unable to access without assistance. Also included are programs that provide compassionate, non-emergency long-distance ground transportation for patients in need, usually by bus.
Medical care must be over a 2-hour drive to be eligible for free air transportation. The patient must also be ambulatory and medically stable as well as be able to walk and climb a few stairs to board a small aircraft.