Arkansas Children's Angel One Transport

Angel One is the patient transport programme of Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a hospital programme that moves sick and injured children and newborns by helicopter and ground ambulance. It also arranges plane flights for long trips.

Services

Angel One serves Arkansas and nearby states. From Little Rock, its service area covers a 200 nautical mile radius. The team works with an Angel One Communications Center. When a doctor calls, the center connects them with an ICU attending physician and other specialists for transport or advice.

The medical staff are transport nurses and respiratory therapists. The site says they are skilled in pediatric, neonatal, burn and high risk obstetric critical care transport.

Aircraft

The hospital owns and operates two twin-engine helicopters that can fly on instrument rules. For trips beyond its normal area, Angel One uses medically equipped fixed-wing planes from separate FAA Part 135 operators. The hospital has held its own airline certificate from the FAA since 2003.

Who it is for

Arkansas Children's cares for patients up to age 21, and Angel One follows the same rule. The site says it also carries burn patients to the hospital and high risk obstetric patients to UAMS.

The programme began as the Arkansas Newborn Transport Service with one ambulance. In 1982 the hospital leased a plane, and helicopter transport followed in 1985. The site says Angel One carries about five patients a day on average.

Facts

• Type: hospital programme of Arkansas Children's Hospital
• Started in 1978 as a newborn ambulance service
• Helicopter transport added in 1985
• Planes come from outside operators