PAL - Portable Aviation Lift

In 2022, the Air Ambulance Service Health Trust (LAT HF) went on standby on behalf of the EU for the transportation of patients with serious infectious diseases (the rescEU scheme). A new type of infection incubator (EpiShuttle) was then introduced, for fast and safe transportation of infected patients. 

The incubator had not previously been used on the aircraft type in question, and the traditional handling equipment suppliers did not come up with concepts that LAT HF and operator Avincis (formerly Babcock Scandinavian AirAmbulance) could trust. EnergyX (in collaboration with our partner Motorteknikk) was then contacted with a request to develop solutions for handling the loading and unloading of the incubator, as a plan B. This was not an area we had worked in before, but as we have extensive experience of concept development, design, production and testing in other areas, we naturally took the assignment on board. Avincis came to us when they were nine months away from being on standby and therefore needed to find a good solution quickly. Our engineers quickly started working on a concept that was presented to the customer with positive feedback.

Both operator Avincis and end customer LAT HF were involved in the project quite early on, and a close collaboration was established. 

The idea began with a simple jack under the pod, but eventually evolved into an integrated electric jack, as well as a modular elevator to get the pod up and into the aircraft door. Plan B became Plan A, and EnergyX suddenly had a new area of focus: medical equipment for aviation. A module for securing the incubator in the aircraft during flight was also part of the delivery, and we conducted thorough tests to check that it could withstand the load required for the installation to be certified by EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency). All parts of the system worked as intended and passed the first test. In addition, we developed solutions for transporting accompanying medical technical equipment such as respirators and syringe pumps together with the incubator.

The electric lift we developed is a portable, foldable and easy-to-use solution that can be transported by airplane - the Portable Aviation Lift (PAL). As the emergency response team can be called out to anywhere in Europe, they rely on having a solution they can carry with them - without relying on ground equipment. Using our lift, the incubator can be transported into the aircraft in a safe and efficient way, for both patient and staff.