April 26, 2018
Flight For Life Colorado, founded in 1972 by St. Anthony Hospital as the first hospital-based air ambulance program in the U.S., provides critical care transportation for sick or injured individuals in an eight-state area, and has transported about 130,000 patients during its 45 years of service.
The program includes seven helicopters operated by Air Methods, four airplanes operated by Mayo Aviation and five ambulances.
“Flight For Life brings the intensive care unit to the patient,” said Kathleen Mayer, MS RN and program director of Flight For Life. “This allows a higher level of care to begin long before the patient reaches the destination, whether from a rural hospital or remote scene.”
Operating out of Denver, Aurora, Westminster, Frisco, Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Durango, CO, Flight For Life transports patients to the most appropriate hospital to receive medical care. The program’s specialty areas include neonatal care, high-risk obstetrics, patients needing highly technical cardiac support and mountain rescue transports. Flight For Life also assists area agencies with search-and-rescue missions and has an avalanche deployment program.
Essential to Flight For Life’s mission is its philosophy of responding to those in need regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.
“Flight For Life, and programs like it, make a huge impact on the communities they serve,” said Mayer. “It’s not just the difference it makes in the patients’ lives but the difference it makes to family and friends – the downstream effect is priceless.”
Learn more about Flight For Life Colorado.
