ADAC Luftrettung and Volocopter yesterday entered into a collaboration partnership at the Paris Air Show to customise eVTOLs for rescue services, to purchase two VoloCity aircraft and to secure 150 additional units.

The two VoloCity aircraft will start research operations in late 2024 to provide ADAC Luftrettung’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) as supplementary aircraft in Germany. Since 2018, nonprofit ADAC Luftrettung and Volocopter have participated in a joint eVTOL feasibility study in EMS and rescue operations, with the Institut für Notfallmedizin und Medizinmanagement (INM, Institute for Emergency Medicine and Medical Management) at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.

The study computer-simulated aeromedical missions in two regions in Germany, and theoretically proved that the introduction of eVTOLs in life-saving situations would add a significant tactical advantage. A pilot and an emergency physician will be dispatched to incident locations to supplement but not to replace rescue helicopters.

Frédéric Bruder, Chief Executive Officer of ADAC Luftrettung, explained: “With longer range, faster operational speeds and significantly more payload of the next generation eVTOLs, we can fulfill our statutory mission to further develop the rescue service from the air.”

Dirk Hoke, Chief Executive Officer of Volocopter, said: “ADAC Luftrettung is the leading European rescue service with highly trained pilots and successful missions. We are now concentrating on starting EMS operations in Germany in 2024.”

The ADAC Luftrettung feasibility study has been met with great interest by the Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, as they have joined forces with Groupe ADP to explore the deployment of ADAC Luftrettung’s concept for multicopter operations in EMS also in the Paris region.

Operating more than 50 rescue helicopters out of 37 bases, the charitable ADAC air rescue service helicopters are part of the German EMS system. The faster patients are taken to hospital for treatment or attended to by an emergency doctor on site, the better are their chances of survival or convalescence.

In January, Volocopter chief engineer Sebastian Mores took the reins as its new chief technology officer (CTO). He retains his previous role in ensuring that the VoloCity, VoloDrone, and VoloRegion are ready in time for their target launches, with the VoloCity scheduled for release at the 2024 Paris Olympics.