Medstar LifeFlight

Medstar LifeFlight is the air medical transport program of Medstar Ambulance in Michigan. It moves critically ill and injured patients by helicopter, with a medical crew and a pilot on board.

What the service does

Medstar says its LifeFlight team can move critical patients over long distances quickly. The air service sits beside Medstar ground critical care units. Those units handle moves for coronary care and intensive care patients between healthcare facilities.

Medstar states that its crews work closely with clinicians at the sending facility. The aim is a smooth handover of care at the receiving hospital.

Crew

Medstar says every flight carries a nurse paramedic, a paramedic and a skilled pilot. Its ground critical care staff train to manage critically ill patients. They work with IV pumps, ventilators and other advanced airway devices, CPAP and BiPAP.

Aircraft and partner

Medstar shows its LifeFlight helicopter on its own site and has used the aircraft in training sessions for firefighters, who learn to secure a landing zone. PHI Air Medical, a US air ambulance operator, lists Medstar among the hospital systems and EMS agencies it serves as an air ambulance partner.

About Medstar

• Parent: Medstar Ambulance, a nonprofit 911 EMS and mobile healthcare provider in lower Michigan.
• Created in 1993 by two local hospitals.
• Air program base: Troy, Michigan.
• Ground critical care transport is offered alongside the air service.
• Other Medstar services include 911 response, a mobile health paramedic program, on-site EMS teams and interfacility transport.