We recommend that you upgrade to the latest version of your browser.
Helikopter og personell på fjelltopp

Together we are the air ambulance service.

The air ambulance service is public. It is owned, organised, and financed by the regional health enterprises. The air ambulance service is nationwide and assists nearly 20,000 patients each year. Photo: Andreas Hjert

The Air Ambulance Service HF is responsible for the operational aspect.
In short, we ensure that the service has aircraft and helicopters that can transport hospital doctors and nurses to patients.
Aircraft and helicopters are procured through public tender with competition.

The hospitals and the regional health enterprises are responsible for the medical aspect of the service and for patient care.
They staff the service's aircraft and helicopters with specialised doctors and nurses.



To practise for life

Drilling, repetitions, adjustments, briefing and debriefing. This is how the air ambulance and rescue service prepares for yet another avalanche season.

Join the ambulance helicopter and rescue helicopter in Tromsø.
A group of people on a snowy mountain

When time is of the essence

Join us and meet some of those who work to provide you with assistance when you become acutely ill or injured.

The emergency medical chain
A person in a red jacket and helmet in a car

Join us at "The People's Base" Dombås.

"We truly feel that we mean a lot to the local community here," says the crew at the Dombås base.
Read more about the mountain base here.
To menn og en dame i røde luftambulanseuniformer foran et gult helikopter

Norway Around in Stavanger

In November, Norway Round visited the Air Ambulance Service and the brand new base in Stavanger.
Read the case here.
A group of men in orange suits standing in front of a yellow and black space shuttle

User committee visiting Tromsø

The air ambulance service's user council was shown and informed about all the resources in the service during their visit to Tromsø on 9 September.
User Committee in Tromsø
Kvinner og menn foran et ambulansefly

Flow in Førde

A highly considered and meticulously planned helicopter base in Førde ensures broad smiles among those who work there.

A Day at Base Førde
Tre menn i røde uniformer og en mann i dress foran et gult ambulansehelikopter

Join us for training days for rescuers.

During two hectic weeks in May, 60 rescue personnel in the air ambulance service had medical training days. One of them was Henrik Litland.
Training days for rescuers
A man in a blue hat

Aha experiences and concrete improvements

- Seriously? Is it THAT cramped here?
Join us for a subject day in Tromsø.
A group of people posing for a photo in front of a yellow airplane

Ålesund in the middle

Nestled between mountains, sea, and three vast regions lies the helicopter base and air ambulance base in Ålesund. Join us at the air ambulance service in Ålesund on a stormy autumn day.

A Day in Ålesund
A group of people posing in front of a yellow and red train

Join us at the helicopter base in Bergen and in Ål.

The helicopter base in Bergen and in Ål are quite different. One is a central base right in the heart of Bergen, while the other is a mountain base in the middle of the country. But those who work there are equally warm-hearted.
Ål in and Bergen in the centre
A yellow helicopter on a runway

The flight coordination centre is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

On 1st May 2024, the Flight Coordination Centre in the Air Ambulance Service will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
Join us at the Flight Coordination Centre.
A man and a woman sitting at a desk with computers

All requests and dispatches for air ambulances go through the hospitals' AMK centres.
Thus, 113 is also the way in to us.

If you require transport, a medical assessment is made to determine what type of transport is needed: air, car, or boat ambulance.

Helicopter

At the helicopter bases, air ambulance doctors on duty decide whether the patients' conditions require the use of an air ambulance.
In consultation with the pilot and rescue personnel, they determine if, when, and how the missions should be carried out.

Requirements for landing sites

Plane

The air ambulances are managed by three AMK centres, in Tromsø, Lørenskog, and Ålesund, known as Medical Coordination Air Ambulance (MKA).
Doctors and nurses on duty prioritise which missions should be flown based on the patients' medical needs.
Emergency missions always take first priority.
All flight missions are planned in consultation with the aircraft pilots, the nurse on board, and the service's flight coordination centre (FKS) in Tromsø.

Read more about the flight coordination centre here

Our operators


We have an agreement with Norwegian Air Ambulance AS to operate our 14 helicopters distributed across 13 bases.



We have an agreement with Avincis Aviation Norway AS to operate our ten planes stationed at 7 bases.

Internships in our service

Community benefit

Early and advanced medical assistance reduces the healthcare costs for society. We see a return on the approximately 1.3 billion invested in the service:

  • We save lives in the most time-critical situations.
  • We streamline hospitals by quickly and efficiently transferring patients to the appropriate hospital, thereby relieving the large national and regional hospitals.
  • Rapid treatment of serious injuries preserves work capacity and quality of life.
  • We reduce the number of hospital days; early and appropriate treatment leads to shorter treatment times.

"The crucial difference in costs (or societal savings) was whether the patient ended up disabled or returned to work."
NOU 2015: 17 First and foremost










Last updated 4/30/2026