SHA to Introduce Emergency Air Evacuation Services for Civil Servants, Police & Their Families
The Social Health Authority (SHA) is set to roll out emergency air evacuation services targeting civil servants, police officers, and their families under the Public Offices Medical Scheme Fund, in a move aimed at strengthening emergency medical response across the country.
Details of the planned rollout emerged in a tender notice published in local dailies on Tuesday, March 3, where SHA invited qualified service providers to bid for a three-year framework agreement to deliver air ambulance services. The initiative falls under the authority’s flagship programmes, including Bima Bora and Afya Nyumbani, which seek to expand access to quality healthcare services.
“Framework Agreement for the Provision of Emergency Air Evacuation Services for the Beneficiaries of the Public Offices Medical Scheme Fund for a period of three years,” read part of the tender notice.
The Public Offices Medical Scheme Fund caters to a broad category of government workers, including personnel from the National Youth Service (NYS), county government staff, national government employees, as well as police officers. The scheme also extends benefits to their declared spouses and up to six dependent children.
According to SHA, the proposed air ambulance services will primarily focus on evacuating patients from remote and underserved regions, including far-flung counties, border areas, and hardship zones where access to advanced medical care is often limited. The move is expected to significantly reduce response times in critical emergencies, particularly in cases requiring specialised treatment in major referral facilities.
Industry data shows that air ambulance services in Africa are largely concentrated in East and Southern Africa, with Nairobi serving as a key hub for both domestic and cross-border medical evacuations. Several providers already operate round-the-clock evacuation services across the region, covering countries such as Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia.
Air ambulances—often referred to as “flying ICUs”—are specially equipped aircraft designed to provide advanced medical care during transit. These include both helicopters for rapid response within shorter distances and fixed-wing aircraft for long-range transfers, including international evacuations.
Helicopters are typically deployed to incident scenes or areas with limited infrastructure, while fixed-wing aircraft handle inter-hospital transfers and cross-border repatriations\. Onboard equipment mirrors that of a fully equipped intensive care unit, with life-support systems tailored to the patient’s needs.
Such equipment includes ventilators, cardiac monitors, defibrillators, infusion pumps, oxygen delivery systems, and portable diagnostic tools. Additional specialised equipment such as neonatal incubators and isolation units for infectious disease control may also be included, depending on the case.
Each evacuation mission is handled by a highly trained aeromedical team comprising doctors, critical care nurses, and paramedics. These teams are supported by 24-hour operational systems, including satellite communication, coordinated patient transfers from one facility to another, and pressurised cabins to ensure patient stability throughout the journey.
While SHA has not disclosed the total budget for the programme or the cost implications per evacuation, the introduction of air ambulance services signals a significant policy shift in Kenya’s public healthcare framework. It underscores a growing emphasis on emergency preparedness and equitable access to specialised care for government workers and their families.
The authority has set March 10 as the deadline for submission of bids from interested firms. If procurement proceeds as scheduled, the services are expected to be operational by the start of the next financial year in July.
The development is likely to be welcomed by thousands of public servants, particularly those stationed in remote areas, as it promises faster, life-saving interventions in critical medical situations.
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SHA to Introduce Emergency Air Evacuation Services for Civil Servants, Police & Their Families
