Service dAide Medicale dUrgence (SAMU), French national air ambulance service
Between summer 1969 and summer 1988, the ALAT provided a detachment of
Alouette III from various units to support SAMUs air operations from hospitals at Dijon,
Montpellier and
Toulouse. Usually an airframe was provided for 3 months or so, with the crews from the parent unit rotating every 3-4 weeks. After a market testing exercise, the Ministère de la Santé (Ministry of Health) switched over to civilian aircraft.
Aeromedical services are provided in some areas of France by Mont Blanc Helicopters, through its
MBH SAMU operation.