Some cardiac patients have to wait several hours for America-based air ambulances to fly them overseas for crucial treatment while Bermuda's vehicle sits idle in the St David's hangar.Bermuda Air Medivac (BAM) vice president Eloise Bell says she's been priced out of the market by United States air ambulances which can offer cheaper flights but take an extra three hours or more to get to patients.Ms Bell is urging Government to make BAM the carrier of choice for Bermuda, to avoid a bidding process leaving her company outmuscled by American firms whose planes cost less to run.BAM was set up with a $2 million donation from philanthropist David Barber in 2005, and has flown more than 500 patients to hospitals on the east coast of North America and the Caribbean.But Ms Bell told The Royal Gazette: “People are calling me because their relatives are waiting six or seven hours in the hospital to be transported out on a plane from the States.“They give me the argument that Mr Barber gave me the plane to be used here, so why does their relative have to wait?”When BAM was first launched, health management company Canadian Medical Network (CMN) used to telephone Ms Bell to inform her when a patient needed to be flown overseas.However in recent months, CMN has been operating a bidding process, e-mailing potentially interested air ambulance companies, who reply saying what time they will get there and how much it will cost.“Air ambulance companies in the States use Lear jets and can operate cheaper than we can. Our plane is a Citation S2 and costs a little bit more to operate and maintain,” said Ms Bell, who said BAM's vehicle costs $14,500 for a five-hour round trip.“It takes them longer to get here, but they are charging a low rate and the management company has to decide time versus money. If they just called me from the hospital and said we have got this trip, they would save time. It shouldn't be this bidding system.”She said patients who need treatment most urgently are put aboard the BAM plane, but that's not always the case with cardiac patients.“A lot of these patients are heart attack patients. Because the doctor doesn't specifically say he has to go as soon as possible they sometimes have to wait,” she said. “To me it doesn't matter: there's a heart patient who needs treatment and there's an air ambulance here who can take them to get that treatment.“Bermuda Air Medivac was not set up in competition with other people. We want to be here and available when someone needs to go from here. We would like Government to insist that because we are a Bermuda company, based in Bermuda, set up to be used by people in Bermuda who get ill and need to go abroad, that we be the carrier of choice.“All this other business, the money is being taken out of Bermuda anyway.”Ms Bell has worked as a nurse in King Edward VII Memorial Hospital's emergency department for 42 years. She helped launch the air ambulance after noting how many patients were waiting too long for planes from America.“I'm running this because I may need it when I want to get out as quickly as possible,” she said. “It's a business, but it's a business set up for a specific purpose.”Last month this newspaper reported how a Med Escort air ambulance used by Colonial Insurance has saved the lives of many Bermuda residents, including victims of major traffic accidents, premature babies and high-risk pregnancies.The Ministry of Health did not respond to a request for a comment yesterday.