Boston MedFlight

Boston MedFlight is a nonprofit critical care transport service for New England. It was set up in 1985 by a group of Boston academic medical centers and is run by New England Life Flight Inc. Its headquarters is at Hanscom Field in Bedford, Massachusetts.

What it does

• Helicopter, fixed-wing and ground critical care transport, with ICU-level care on every vehicle
• Transfers between hospitals (about 90% of helicopter missions) and scene responses (about 10%)
• A 24/7 communications center for EMS and hospital teams: 1-800-233-8998
• Education for clinicians and first responders, an annual critical care conference and community visits

Fleet and bases

• A standardised fleet of Airbus H145 helicopters, one at each of its five bases, flying more than 600 hours per aircraft a year
• A Cessna Citation CJ4 jet, added in 2023, for long distance transports
• 17 ICU-equipped air and ground vehicles in all
• Bases: Bedford (headquarters, communications center, simulation training and aviation maintenance), Plymouth, Mansfield, Lawrence and Manchester, New Hampshire
• Operates under its own FAA Part 135 air carrier certificate, in both visual and instrument conditions, with 11 point-in-space instrument procedures in the Boston area
• In-house maintenance team of factory-trained technicians

Numbers

• More than 6,000 patients transported a year, including more than 1,500 pediatric and neonatal patients
• More than 200 team members serving more than 190 cities and towns
• No patient turned away for inability to pay, with about US$7 million in free and unreimbursed care a year
• Passed 90,000 patient transports in 2022

Consortium hospitals

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Tufts Medical Center.

History

• 1985: first patient transport on 26 June, as a helicopter service
• 1992: second helicopter at Plymouth; 1995: operations move to Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford
• 1998 to 1999: ground transport and fixed-wing capability added
• 2011: third base at Lawrence; 2017: own FAA Part 135 certificate and a fourth base at Mansfield
• 2018: new headquarters on the civilian side of Hanscom Field
• 2023: Cessna Citation CJ4 joins the fleet

Contact

Transport requests (24/7): 1-800-233-8998
Office: +1 781 863 2213

FAQ

Who can request a Boston MedFlight transport?

EMS and hospital teams call the communications center. Patients and families can find billing and transport information on its website.

Which helicopters does Boston MedFlight fly?

Airbus H145 helicopters, with identical interiors and equipment at every base.

Details from the company's website, bostonmedflight.org, October 2026.