EMS operations in the Bayonne region, France

EMS operations in the Bayonne region, France

Situated between the Pyrenees mountains and the Atlantic Ocean (Basque Country), Babcock’s EMS SAMU 64A base operates in a unique environment; microclimates, sparsely located villages, hilly and mountainous terrain and dense foliage all contribute to a beautiful but challenging operational landscape for our EMS teams.

Working in pairs, pilots and technical crew members (TCMs) are on alert all day and ready to take off within 10 minutes of notification from the hospital. The SAMU 64A base delivered 600 EMS missions (and 800 flight hours) in 2018.

With a unique six-person capacity and long-range flying capability (meaning the team can deliver missions from Bayonne to the Spanish border, Toulouse to Bordeaux) the SAMU 64A team’s Airbus EC145C2 helicopter offers patients and medical teams a high-performance medical environment.

From landing on Saint-Jean-de-Luz beaches to assist injured surfers, rescuing distressed farmers in remote Basque villages to responding to car accidents on packed motorways, the Babcock SAMU 64A crew have been providing aerial medical assistance to the local communities for more than 12 years.

Read more about our work: