LifeFlight: Ready 365 days a year, 24 hours a day
Inside a plain building where a helicopter is parked out back waits a team of four people, always at the ready.
They know an important call can come in over the radio at any moment. When they get it, they go into action, calmly yet quickly grabbing all their packed, prepared bags.
Then it’s out to the helicopter where they take their seats, stash their bags, don helmets, strap in and fly to someone who needs to make a quick flight to a lifesaving trauma center.
“We’re here 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. If they need us when they’re at their worst, we will be there at our best,” said Alex Gill, a LifeFlight pilot.
Those taking a LifeFlight ride, the air medical service of the Allegheny Health Network, are in a life-threatening situation.
The $8 million, medically equipped aircraft that sits at the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport in Penn Township isn’t called out for a fender bender. Still, the helicopter is only one part of the team. It’s the staff that makes all the difference.
The nurses, paramedics and pilots that work for LifeFlight are at the top of their profession, the best of the best — judging by the amount of education, training and certification they bring with them.
The teams are ready and will do everything within their considerable power and knowledge to get their patient to the hospital alive.
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