MedFlight Turns 25

We mentioned that an injured driver in a 2-car rollover accident had to be airlifted by a Boston MedFlight helicopter in our previous post, and a recent article about MedFlight in the Boston Globe has inspired us to write a few words about this amazing life rescuing service that is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

As described on their website, MedFlight is a not-for-profit, air and ground critical care transportation company based in Columbus, Ohio that completes nearly 7,000 critical care transports by helicopter and mobile intensive care unit each year.

The Boston charter of MedFlight is headquartered in Bedford, Mass. – more specifically, at the Bedford’s Hanscom Air Force Base, from where it flies over to transport critically injured patients to nearby hospitals. It was created in 1985 by Boston’s six teaching hospitals. According to the company, Boston MedFlight has transported 43,000 patients so far, the numbers increasing by 1-2 percent every year.

Equipped with a crew that includes a pilot, and a specially trained critical-care transport nurse and paramedic, MedFlight’s goal is to connect a critical-care medical team to patients who need life-saving care the most and no time to lose.

Sometimes, patients transported by MedFlight are involved in serious vehicle accidents that make the news. However, most often than not, MedFlight patients don’t make headlines. In fact, the article reported that only 18% of all 2,941 patients transported by Boston MedFlight last year were of news-worthy interest.

The only thing connecting patients flown by MedFlight is their critical condition where minutes count and ambulance vehicles are not fast enough.

To view the article, please click here. Also, here’s a link to MedFlight’s official website.