Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, has successfully conducted the trial helicopter landing on its rooftop helipad, marking the official operational start of one of the most advanced air ambulance facilities in North India. With this, the helipad is now ready for operational use for day-time Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flights, facilitating the swift air transfer of seriously ill and trauma patients directly into emergency medical treatment protocols.
New Era in Emergency Medical Services
The helipad has a diameter of 28 meters, and its maximum load-carrying capacity is 5,700 kg. This makes it the largest elevated helipad in the entire country at any hospital and the first elevated helipad in North India. The trial landing exercise has proven the design, aviation safety standards, approach, and landing of the helipad and its functionality for patient transfer from the rooftop to emergency, operation, and intensive care units.
The helipad has been operationally cleared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), ensuring that it satisfies the aviation safety standards of the country regarding helicopter services from hospitals.
Extending Advanced Care Over a 300-400 km Radius
Swami Nijamritananda Puri, Administrative Director, Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, explained that the helipad was conceptualized as an integral part of the emergency setup of the hospital right from the day of its inception in 2022.
“The vision has been to integrate emergency preparedness into the campus plan. Situated on prime high-speed routes, the rooftop helipad enables us to extend the reach of advanced trauma and critical care to a 300-400 km radius, where time becomes the only decisive factor. With direct connectivity to emergency, ICUs, operation theatres, and transplant facilities, this helipad facility enables us to provide life-saving care without any delay, as per our fundamental commitment to ‘Service above all else,’” he said.
Dr. Sanjeev Singh, Medical Director, Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, emphasized the role of the helipad in time-sensitive emergencies: “In emergency and critical care medicine, every avoidable delay has its own set of implications. With the successful test landing achieved and the helipad facility now operational, we are now fully prepared to receive patients directly from air ambulances and initiate definitive therapy immediately, especially in trauma, stroke, cardiac emergencies, high-risk maternal cases, neonatal care, complex surgical conditions, and organ sharing network.”
Designed for Speed, Safety, and Integration
The elevated helipad has been designed in accordance with very stringent requirements of aviation, fire safety, and emergency services. The important features include advanced landing support systems, specialized firefighting and rescue facilities, and secured patient transfer corridors that provide direct access to the hospital’s trauma, cardiac sciences, neurosciences, transplant programs, and critical care programs.
The helipad is designed to provide rapid access to definitive care, thus offering the potential to improve outcomes for patients with trauma, stroke, cardiac emergencies, high-risk maternal patients, neonatal critical care patients, and complex surgical patients.
Regional, National, and International Lifeline
In addition to the emergency services, the rooftop helipad will further enhance the role of Amrita Hospital as a regional and national lifeline. The helipad will facilitate long-distance transfers from North India and the North-East, as well as international patients who need quick access to tertiary and quaternary care. The helipad will also be an important component in the following areas:
• Disaster management and handling mass casualties
• Logisitics of time-bound organ transplants
• Organ-sharing networks for quick organ retrieval and transplant
Enabled by Strong Government and Regulatory Support
The commissioning of this elevated helipad has been enabled by strong coordination efforts with the concerned government and regulatory authorities. Shri Vipul Goel, Hon’ble Minister for Revenue & Disaster Management, Urban Local Bodies, and Civil Aviation, Government of Haryana, and Shri Rajesh Nagar, Hon’ble Minister of State, Government of Haryana, have played an important role in ensuring the necessary approvals and execution of this aviation-enabled healthcare facility.
With the commissioning of India’s largest elevated hospital helipad, Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, reiterates its commitment to providing world-class, time-sensitive healthcare, where every minute saved is a life saved.
