Memorial Hermann Life Flight is a hospital-based air medical transport service in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Prior to 2020, Life Flight flew into 12th floor of the John S. Dunn Heli-Stop atop Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center. In March of 2020, Memorial Hermann-TMC opened the new 18 story Sarofim Pavilion, which now serves as the home for Life Flight operations in addition to an expanded helipad atop the pavilion. Life Flight was founded in 1976.

History

Service began on August 1, 1976 as the second helicopter air medical program in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. The founder, Dr. James H. "Red" Duke, Jr., was the medical director for Life Flight from its inception until his death August 25, 2015. To date, Life Flight has flown more than 120,000 patient missions. Life Flight is accredited by the

Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) (pronounced ''cames''), is an independent, non-profit agency based in Sandy Springs, South Carolina, which audits and accredits fixed-wing, rotary wing, and surface medical transpo ...

. The first helicopter utilized on a Life Flight mission was the French-built SA 319B, also known as the Alouette III. The Alouette served the program well, but was eventually replaced by a newer aircraft, the AS 355 Ecureuil 2, also known as “TwinStar.” The AS 355 boasted many improvements in power, speed, cabin space and stability and was equipped with two turbine engines that greatly improved the safety of operations. The TwinStar served with Life Flight until the acquisition of the

BK 117 The MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 is a twin-engined medium utility– transport helicopter. It was jointly developed and manufactured by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) of Germany and Kawasaki of Japan. MBB was later purchased by Daimler-Benz and even ...

helicopter. The BK 117 was built as a joint venture between Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) and

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (or simply Kawasaki) is a Japanese public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, heavy equipment, aerospace and defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headquartered in Chūō, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is ...

. The aircraft is particularly special because of its layout, which allows for complete use of the cabin area. It has no structural beams, or pillars, blocking the cabin space, and it also has large rear “clamshell” doors to use for loading and unloading patient stretchers. With the addition of the BK117, Life Flight has been able to conduct many specialized transports, including

neonatal An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

transport, intra-aortic balloon pump patients, and double patient loads from the same scene. In addition, Life Flight operated a Bo 105 helicopter, also built by MBB. It featured dual engines, double patient load capacity and a high skid configuration to improve safety around the tail rotor. In 2007, Life Flight purchased 6 new

EC 145 The Eurocopter EC145 (now Airbus Helicopters H145) is a twin-engine light utility helicopter developed and manufactured by Airbus Helicopters. Originally designated as the ''BK 117'', the H145 is based upon the MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 C1, which ...

twin-engine helicopters that replaced the 4 that were in use. One is stationed near the

Port of Houston The Port of Houston is one of the world's largest ports and serves the metropolitan area of Houston, Texas. The port is a 50-mile-long complex of diversified public and private facilities located a few hours' sailing time from the Gulf of Mexico. ...

to better serve that region and one will be dedicated to

pediatric Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

transport. Each Life Flight helicopter can carry up to two patients. Life Flight has experienced only one fatal crash killing the pilot John Pittman, paramedic Charles R. "Mac" Atteberry and flight nurse Lynn Ethridge. It happened in 1999 and resulted from helicopter manufacturing flaws in the previously used BK-117 helicopter model — the tension torsion strap unraveled, sending the aircraft to the ground.

Operations

Life Flight operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year within a 150-mile radius of Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, performing more than 3,000 missions each year. This service area includes Southeast Texas and Western Louisiana. The John S. Dunn Helistop is one of the busiest helipads in the world.

Crew

Life Flight's crew is made up of helicopter pilots, flight nurses, flight paramedics, and flight mechanics. The aviation and medical staff have over 250 combined years of medical transport experience. The medical crew continue their training and education with recurrent skills training and maintain Certified Flight Registered Nurse and Certified Flight Paramedic credentials. Helicopter mechanics are factory trained by Eurocopter, attend manufacturer's training on

Turbomeca Safran Helicopter Engines, previously known as Turbomeca, is a French manufacturer of low- and medium-power gas turbine turboshaft engines for helicopters. The company also produces gas turbine engines for aircraft and missiles, as well as turbin ...

engines, and are Airframe & Powerplant Certified. Pilots are required to have thousands of hours of flight time and Airline Transport Pilot credentialing, the highest level of aircraft pilot certificate/license, is preferred.

Current bases

Life Flight operates out of five bases in the greater Houston area. * North Base (Hooks): David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport 1st through the 15th of the month * North Base (Woodlands): Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital 16th through 30th of the month * East Base: Baytown Airport * South Base: Pearland Regional Airport * West Base South: Memorial Hermann Sugarland Hospital 1st through the 15th of the month * West Base North: Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital 16th through 30th of the month * Central Base: John S. Dunn Helistop at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center

Helicopter features

* Pre-hospital blood product administration (PRBC/FFP) * Portable blood warmers * Ultrasound diagnostics * Double load capacity * Larger cabin permitting for CPR in the aircraft * Clot-busting agents for

STEMI A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

* Direct access to

cath lab A catheterization laboratory, commonly referred to as a cath lab, is an examination room in a hospital or clinic with diagnostic imaging equipment used to visualize the arteries of the heart and the chambers of the heart and treat any stenosis ...

for STEMI * Direct access to CT for stroke * iStat portable blood analyzer * Video-assisted intubations * Hemostatic agents for blood clotting *

Night vision goggles A night-vision device (NVD), also known as a night optical/observation device (NOD), night-vision goggle (NVG), is an optoelectronic device that allows visualization of images in low levels of light, improving the user's night vision. The dev ...

for all crew members * Twin-engine aircraft allows for higher patient weight loading and faster response times * Pediatric and

transport

Gallery

Image:MHHLife1.JPG, Patient being loaded into Life Flight's now retired BK 117 aircraft. Image:MHHLflight2.JPG, Life Flight lands on scene in western Austin County. Image:HermannLifeFlight.JPG, Two

EC145 The Eurocopter EC145 (now Airbus Helicopters H145) is a twin-engine light utility helicopter developed and manufactured by Airbus Helicopters. Originally designated as the ''BK 117'', the H145 is based upon the MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 C1, which ...

helicopters operated by Memorial Hermann Life Flight

References

External links

Official Life Flight web site
{{authority control Air ambulance services in the United States Institutions in the Texas Medical Center Airlines established in 1976 1976 establishments in Texas