LIFE STAR (Hartford HealthCare)

LIFE STAR is a critical care helicopter service of Hartford HealthCare in Connecticut. It is a hospital programme linked to Hartford Hospital, and it flies patients who need care at a tertiary care hospital.

Services

LIFE STAR answers emergency and critical care calls within a 150 mile radius of its bases. The site says it serves all tertiary care centers in that area and carries about 1,200 to 1,400 patients a year. Flight crews can talk with doctors before and during a flight.

The usual crew is a flight nurse, a flight respiratory therapist, a pilot, a mechanic and a communication specialist. The aircraft can fly at 155 miles per hour and is airborne within minutes of a request, according to the site.

Aircraft and bases

The service runs two Eurocopter EC-145 helicopters around the clock. One is at MidState Medical Center in Meriden, Connecticut. The other is at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, Connecticut. A third helicopter, an EC-135, is based at Westfield-Barnes Airport in Westfield, Massachusetts. It is run with Baystate Health and Air Methods, and its crew is a flight nurse, a flight paramedic and a pilot.

LIFE STAR works with the EMS and trauma department at Hartford Hospital, and with specialist doctors at receiving hospitals. The page lists these acute care hospitals: Backus Hospital, Hartford Hospital, The Hospital of Central Connecticut, MidState Medical Center and Windham Hospital.

Facts

• Type: hospital programme of Hartford HealthCare
• Began operating in 1985
• Third aircraft run with Baystate Health and Air Methods