Corewell Health Aero Med

Corewell Health Aero Med is the air ambulance helicopter program of Corewell Health in Michigan. It provides emergency scene response, critical care transport between facilities, and specialty services for critically ill and injured patients across Michigan. The program is based at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids.

Aero Med offers neonatal transport, high-risk obstetrics and support for mechanical circulatory assist devices, including ECMO. It transports babies, children and adults between medical facilities when they need advanced critical care during transport. Its flight communicators also coordinate with first responders to secure a landing zone.

The program flies two Sikorsky S 76 helicopters with custom medical interiors and equipment. It has a cruising speed of 155 mph and a range of more than 400 miles. The aircraft have avionics that allow safe operations in a wide range of conditions. The program is staffed, on duty and standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Each crew has one pilot and two critical care flight nurses. The pilots are airline transport pilot certified and instrument rated, and they complete flight simulator training every six months. Each pilot can accept, delay or cancel a flight based on weather or a safety concern. The flight nurses are dual licensed registered nurses and paramedics with Certified Flight Registered Nurse certification.

The team can give whole blood, packed red blood cells and liquid plasma. It can perform chest tube insertion and pericardiocentesis, use a LUCAS mechanical chest compression device, and carry out rapid sequence intubation. Flight communications specialists act as the single point of contact for each transport and track the aircraft in real time.

Any scene responder can request a launch, such as law enforcement, fire departments, EMS or dispatch. There is no cost to the patient or responding agency for making or canceling a request. Hospitals and transfer centers can request air transport between facilities by calling the Flight Communications Center.

The in-house maintenance crew is made up of FAA licensed airframe and powerplant mechanics who were factory trained on the Aero Med aircraft and engines. The program is nationally accredited by CAMTS, and it maintains an FAA Part 135 air carrier certificate.

Services

• Emergency scene response
• Interfacility critical care transport
• Neonatal transport
• High-risk obstetric transport
• ECMO transport
• Mechanical circulatory support transport
• Landing zone coordination
• Flight communications
• Landing zone course and public appearances
• Down Safe newsletter