MedSTAR Transport (MedStar Health)

MedSTAR Transport is the air and ground medical transport service of MedStar Health. It moves about 6,000 patients a year to and from MedStar Health facilities in the Baltimore and greater Washington, D.C. area.

Most patients move between hospitals in the MedStar Health system and other major tertiary care centers in the Mid-Atlantic region. Medical control physicians are immediately available 24 hours a day to consult with referring physicians and flight crews.

Some patients are transported from accident scenes to the closest Level One Trauma Center, in coordination with local EMS systems. The company also supports community outreach events that meet set criteria, such as a secured landing zone and event hours between 8 AM and 8 PM.

The team can start or continue critical care during transport, with immediate access to critical care physicians. Teams routinely manage advanced ventilation, high flow nasal oxygen, APRV, intra-aortic balloon pumps, ventricular assist devices, Impellas and ECMO.

The air service uses EC-135 helicopters with a cruising speed of 150 mph and a range of about 250 miles. Its helicopter bases are spread across the mid-Atlantic region and complete about 2,000 medevac missions a year.

All FAA Part 135 aviation services are provided by Metro Aviation, Inc., which keeps exclusive operational control of the aircraft. Each aircraft is equipped for single pilot operations under instrument flight rules, and the primary aircraft have satellite voice and tracking systems.

The ground division provides nurse-attended critical care and paramedic-attended advanced life support transports. It also contracts for advanced and basic life support and wheelchair van services, and its ambulances can move bariatric and neonatal patients.

Services

• Air medevac transport
• Ground critical care transport
• Advanced life support transport
• Wheelchair van services
• Public relations and outreach requests
• MedStar Transfer Center
• Bariatric and neonatal transport