As long as there have been planes in the sky, the air ambulance has been with us. Well nearly, anyway. Like most technological advances in human history over the last century, the air ambulance was born out of the military of several different nations. Since its early concepts, shortly after the Wright Brother's first flight, in World War I the air ambulance has seen tremendous growth and expansion into the civilian world. The air ambulance has evolved from those early days of flight in the military to serve the entire human population. It has grown in both safety and reliability to save lives in areas where people can not be reached.

While there is some debate about exactly which nation was first to develop the air ambulance, there is no doubt that it originated during World War I. The first known medieval mission during the war was when a Serbian officer was flown in a French Air Service plane from the battlefield to the hospital. The French were especially impressed with the results of the air ambulance missions during World War I. The French found that the air ambulance cut the mortality rate of injured soldiers from 60% to 10%. Official records for the air ambulance were first kept in 1917 during a mission in Turkey when a British ambulance transported a soldier who had been shot to a hospital in 45 minutes.

Air ambulances continued to take off through the 1920s, however aircraft was still primitive at the time. Still the idea of the air ambulance caught on as the French and British both used them during wars in Africa in the 1920s. By the late 1930s Switzerland used the air ambulance to help rescue people injured participating in the growing winter sports like skiing. In 1936 the first organized air ambulance government service was underway when the wounded during the Spanish Civil War were transported to Nazi Germany for medical treatment.

By the time the United States became involved in World War II the USA had a full aircraft dedicated to air ambulance services. In April 1944 the US Army Forces transported injured British soldiers in the jungles of Burma. Overall, from April 25-26 four total return trips were made.

In the civilian world the air ambulance was experimented with early but businesses began to offer the service in a more organized fashion after World War I. The first known commercial air ambulance was developed to serve the Australian Outback in the late 1920s. The first United States air ambulance company, the Schaefer Air Service, was founded in Los Angeles in 1947. The service really took off in more remote areas of Canada through the 1940s and up to today.

By the Vietnam War the USA was using the Bell UH-1 helicopter. It was known as Huey and large enough to hold patients inside with medical personnel who could begin administering treatment while in flight. The Huey became a massive success as it reduced the average delay until full treatment to one hour.

By the 1970s and 1980s the world saw rapid growth of companies specializing in air ambulance services. This was especially true in the United States as well as in Canada and Germany. Travel Care Air was founded during this explosion. What was the reason for the tremendous growth during this time period? Governments conducted studies on air ambulances that found that they were both safe and a reliable method to help people in need. This helped increase the public’s trust and the demand. Today there are hundreds of companies in the United States and thousands all over the world that work to help save lives.