Stanford Medicine Life Flight

Stanford Medicine Life Flight is a hospital helicopter programme of Stanford Health Care in Stanford, California. It began in May 1984 as the critical care air transport service of Stanford University Hospital, in partnership with Stanford Medicine Children's Health.

Services

Life Flight does three kinds of work. It moves patients between hospitals anywhere in California. It answers 911 requests from county emergency systems, and the site says about one in five flights starts that way. It also flies specialty teams from the children's, newborn and obstetric units to other hospitals, to bring patients back to Stanford.

Every flight has registered nurses with critical care and emergency experience. The site lists skills such as rapid sequence intubation, arterial lines and care for patients on ECMO, Impella and balloon pumps. Each flight carries packed red blood cells and plasma.

Aircraft and crew

The programme flies an Airbus EC145 helicopter that can carry up to two patients. Its four pilots work for Air Methods, the aviation partner and Part 135 certificate holder. If weather stops flying, Life Flight may use its ambulance, with the same nurses.

Coverage area

The service area runs from the Oregon border in the north to Reno, Nevada in the east, and as far south as Santa Barbara.

Life Flight nurses rotate through the adult, pediatric and newborn ICUs, the emergency department and labor and delivery. They also spend time in the operating room with anesthesiologists and attend simulation labs twice a year. Two medical directors oversee their training.

Facts

• Type: hospital programme of Stanford Health Care
• Aviation partner: Air Methods
• Accredited by CAMTS, according to the programme