A Norwegian F-16 fighter jet has helped save a patient's life after transporting life-saving medical equipment from one hospital to another, according to media reports.

The patient was fighting for his life, and without a special lung and heart procedure called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation he would die.

The equipment was not available at the hospital in the town of Bodo in central Norway, where he was being treated.

But a hospital in Trondheim, about 450 kilometres to the south, did have the machine and staff there contacted the air force on April 4 for help in transporting it.

The request came in just as two F-16 fighter jets were getting ready to take off from an airbase near Trondheim, reports said.

"They didn't ask any questions, except for what size the machine was," said Anders Wetting Carlsen, chief doctor at Trondheim's Saint Olaf hospital.

In a stroke of good luck one of the fighter jets was equipped with an external hold that allowed it to transport equipment.

The machine was loaded onto the aircraft, which made for Bodo at top speed.

"Usually we cover that distance in 35 minutes," air squadron head Borge Kleppe told Norwegian daily Verdens Gang.

"But given the special nature of the cargo, the pilot stepped on it and arrived at the destination less than 25 minutes later."

AFP