We were tasked with arranging the urgent transportation of life-saving blood plasma from a hospital in Manchester to a waiting patient in San Francisco.
Delivering life-saving treatment to a hospital in San Francisco
Our client urgently needed to move life-saving blood plasma from Manchester to a hospital in San Francisco within its limited shelf life. We initially planned to transport the box on a scheduled service, but had to find an alternative solution when the surgery to extract the blood from the donor overran. Adding to the complexity of the task, the plasma had to be kept cool and couldn’t be x-rayed at customs, so an onboard courier with training in handling sensitive medical shipments was required to accompany the package.
Our Solution
Route: Manchester > San Francisco
Service: Onboard courier, aircraft charter
Our team took just 10 minutes to send the client a quote for transporting the plasma on a scheduled flight departing that afternoon. Upon learning the surgery was taking longer than expected, we knew a private charter was the only option to deliver the life-saving shipment in time and quickly sourced a Bombardier Global Express with last-minute availability.
A successful delivery required a courier with the expert knowledge and training to carry out a medical transfer, so we reached out to a member of our time critical team in Frankfurt who had the necessary qualifications. At a moment’s notice, he jumped on the next flight to Manchester and waited at the hospital for the surgery to be completed.
With the life-saving box in hand, our courier contacted airport security to prepare for a quick screening of the box, ensuring it was kept in the right conditions. He then called ahead to the pilots, advising them to be ready for immediate departure of the 12-hour flight. After landing in San Francisco, we arranged for a customs agent to board the aircraft and expedite clearance of the shipment instead of processing it in the terminal.
The Finer Details
Expert Knowledge: Our broker’s expert knowledge meant the life-saving shipment made it to its destination in ideal conditions, giving the client absolute peace of mind.
Time Critical: The shipment was successfully delivered to the hospital in San Francisco less than 13 hours after the extraction surgery was completed in Manchester.