Two Butler County natives are committed to being “the last line of defense” for the critically ill and injured.

“We are from here. We live here. This is our community,” said Alex Gill, of Penn Township, a pilot with Allegheny Health Network’s LifeFlight department. “When the call comes in, there’s a chance it’s someone we know, a friend, a family member. We are here for our community, much like police and fire and everybody else that works (in) their community.

“This is our home, and we are here to take care of you.”

He and LifeFlight nurse Megan Crawford spent years pursuing career paths that led them to their dream jobs and fulfill their desire to help others.

“From a young age, I knew that I always wanted to get into a profession to be able to give back and help the community,” Crawford said. “Nursing was that calling.”

After graduating from nursing school, Crawford worked as a critical care nurse for six years before joining the LifeFlight program this May. She also has experience as a first aid and CPR instructor and as a volunteer firefighter with the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company in Center Township.

Crawford earned her bachelor of science in nursing at Chatham University and is a certified critical care nurse and prehospital nurse and holds certifications in Basic LIfe Support, Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Prehospital Trauma Life Support.

“We take care of the sickest of the sick,” Crawford said of her work with LifeFlight. “The most rewarding part of my job is getting to help the community, to provide care to patients (and) to be able to ultimately get them back home to their families.”

When he was 5 years old, Gill decided he was going to be a helicopter pilot after watching the LifeFlight helicopters fly over his childhood home in Gibsonia.

“It’s not an easy job by any means; we have spent years and years and years honing our skills to be able to do this job,” said LifeFlight pilot Gill. “It takes an extremely special skill set to do what we do day in and day out, but we love what we do.”

When Gill turned 18, he joined the military through the High School to Flight School program, also called Street to Seat.

“Essentially, (I) went directly into the U.S. Army to become a helicopter pilot,” Gill said. “I did that for 10 years and did two deployments to Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C.”

According to Gill, there are two ways to become a helicopter pilot: a flight school program that is “just like college” or the military route. Either way, medical helicopter pilots need to be highly experienced.

Like Gill, many of the other pilots he works with have a military background and have the same specialized skill set that they’ve earned through their years of experience.

“We fly in some of the most difficult conditions, obviously with people shooting at you and (flying in) difficult terrain,” Gill said. Due to his deployments to Afghanistan, Gill has experience flying at high altitudes.

After his time in the military, Gill and his wife decided to move back to Butler County, where he was hired by LifeFlight almost eight years ago.

“I’ve always felt a calling to help, and this was about the coolest way I figured I could do it,” Gill said.

One of the requirements Gill needed for the job was at least 2,000 hours in a helicopter, and it took him over nine years of his military career to gain that much experience.

“It takes a lot of experience (and) a lot of hard work and dedication, but it is 100% doable,” Gill said. “We have a good mix of civilian guys that have gotten their training without being in the military. It makes a good group of guys that are extremely safe and good at what they do.”

According to Crawford, the LifeFlight program has specific requirements for a medical crew member to be considered for the team. Nurses are required to work in a critical or emergency medicine environment for a minimum of five years and hold advanced certifications.

“The LifeFlight program has a fantastic education program and job training so we can be prepared for any situation,” Crawford said. “We do a lot of extra training, meetings and things like that.”

Typically, every LifeFlight crew will consist of one pilot, and two members of medical staff, usually a variation of nurses, paramedics and sometimes doctors.

According to AHN’s website, its LifeFlight department provides regional emergency helicopter and critical care ground transportation services for critically ill and injured patients who need immediate specialized care.

“We see people on their worst day,” Gill said. “We are here to provide that service and assistance to get you to the care that you need. We are on call 24/7/365. We are here if you need us, but we pray you never need us.”

According to Crawford, there is an average of two to three flights every day that typically take an hour to finish, but have taken up to three hours, depending on the distance and situation.

“Our main goal is to take care of the patients and transport them to the appropriate medical facilities so they can receive the proper care to get back home and be with their families,” Crawford said.

When not in the air, pilots and members of the medical team wait at the ready. During this downtime, they study, finish extra training, make a meal and perform regular base duties such as equipment checks and medical supply restocks.

“We are similar to a firehouse in the fact that we go in at a specified time and we sit there all day (until) we are needed, whatever time the call comes in,” Gill said. “Our goal is to be off the ground in three minutes (heading) to the location. Whenever a call comes in, we drop everything and head to the accident or to the hospital as quick as we can.”

AHN’s LifeFlight works alongside emergency medical providers and community hospitals in a four-state area, Western Pennsylvania, southeastern Ohio, northern West Virginia and western Maryland. So far, the department has completed more than 75,000 missions in its 45 years of operation.

“It really turns into wherever you need us, we can provide assistance,” Gill said.

Usually, these longer flights to neighboring states happen about once a month or less, according to Gill.

Five LifeFlight bases service the Western Pennsylvania area. Gill and Crawford work at the LifeFlight 4 base at Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport in Penn Township. The other bases are located in Washington County, Clarion County, Indiana County and Westmoreland County.

According to Gill, there are usually four pilots per base and 22 total pilots for the region on call at any given time throughout the year.

“I would say that rewarding is almost an understatement; we do this because we truly love it,” Gill said. “It’s amazing to hear (back) and get follow-ups and cards. We have people that make us Christmas ornaments and stop by and say thank you.

“To hear the stories that on the worst day of their lives when they lost all hope, they turned to us and we got them where they needed to go, I would say that’s the most rewarding part of this job.”