Air Transportation - Life Flight
28 Years of Life-Saving Service

Jacksonville's first emergency air ambulance, Life Flight was dedicated in 1980 to provide rapid air transport of critically ill and injured patients under the safest possible conditions. Life Flight is outfitted as a self-contained critical care unit with equipment for advanced life support and offers medical treatment of the whole spectrum of emergency conditions. It includes a new 800 megahertz radio system, which offer further range and crystal clear communications, along with satellite tracking for crew safety, which provides continuous monitoring of each flight, along with real-time, on-board weather information and a traffic avoidance system.

In addition, Life Flight now allows hook-up to an isolette for transporting critically ill babies with Kids Kare's Neonatal and Pediatric Transport Teams, a Wolfson Children's Hospital service.

The helicopter is available 24 hours a day for patients within a 150-mile radius of Baptist Medical Center Downtown. The flight crew is typically comprised of a flight nurse and paramedic who have years of critical care, pre-hospital and emergency medicine experience, along with a highly experienced pilot.

Fast Facts about Life Flight

• Life Flight is a twin-engine BK117 that has a cruising speed of 135 knots and a capacity for a crew comprised of a registered nurse and paramedic, plus a pilot, in addition to two patients (up to a total of 400 pounds).
• The crew includes:

• A pilot with extensive training history who will work a 12-hour shift. All four of Life Flight's current pilots are retired military.
• A registered nurse with at least five years in critical care experience (Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Center, etc.). Nurses are required to become a paramedic within one year of hire.
• A paramedic with at least three to five years in high-volume 911 service. Members of the medical crew work 24-hour shifts.

• The equipment on board Life Flight includes a ventilator, defibrillator/pacemaker, three-channel IV pump (two pumps if needed), over 40 different medications, advanced airway management equipment, two multi-function monitors and end-tidal carbon dioxide (CO2) detectors.
• Life Flight was the second air medical transport unit in the state of Florida and was the first air medical transport unit in Jacksonville. Baptist Health oriented and trained the original crew including registered nurses, paramedics and dispatchers. Since its beginning in 1980, Life Flight has made more than 20,000 patient flights. Life Flight made nearly 1,500 patient flights in 2006.
• In 2006, Life Flight was the first rotor wing ambulance service in the State of Florida to receive accreditation by the Commission on the Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS). The voluntary accreditation, which is for three years, is the result of a site visit and a thorough review by CAMTS of documentation for all aspects of the program, including education, safety, patient care, the quality assurance process, aircraft maintenance schedules, and other guidelines.
• Life Flight celebrated its 25^th anniversary on August 3, 2005.