ORLANDO, Fla. (October 23, 2009) — Often referred to as heroes and angels by patients, the critical care helicopter transport team at the Orlando Regional Medical Center Level One Trauma Center is officially known as the Air Care Team. Whichever name they go by, the team has responded to community needs for more than two decades. October marks the Air Care Team’s 25th anniversary and the installation of a new communications center to continue managing rescue calls, which is the starting point of the team’s life saving efforts.
“From the beginning we have been committed to delivering high-level care to patients in the field – the critical start of the golden hour,” said Beth Rudloff, chief nursing officer, ORMC. “Throughout our 25 years we have expanded to three helicopters and our new communications center is another step to ensure we meet the critical health care needs of our growing communities.”
Inside the new communications center the Air Care Team’s communications specialists have state-of-the-art tools to perform the critical role of dispatching calls and sharing and receiving information from the medical crew and Level One trauma center. The additional space will allow for increased staffing to meet the community’s growing needs for trauma care.
“The new communications center also means greater safety measures,” said Nathan Allsop, communication center supervisor. “Aircrafts are tracked by a new satellite tracking and monitoring system and a window-view provides inbound and outbound air traffic visibility. Awareness and efficiency is key to effectively managing calls and communicating with the Air Care Team and the other 10 air ambulance programs we work with on any given day, along with the clinicians in our trauma center.”
The communications center manages an average of 260 requests for service and an average of 480 emergency transfer requests calls per month. The Air Cares Team’s communications specialists have undergone specialized training in air ambulance communications and are certified by the National Association of Air-medical Communication Specialists.
Once calls are received, the communications specialists efficiently relay the information to the on-board team comprised of a flight nurse, a flight paramedic and a pilot. The Air Care Team’s 24-member medical crew is one of the highest credentialed flight crew in the state.
“Working together, we bring the services of ORMC’s Level One Trauma Center and cardiac services to remote locations so that we can begin treatment on the scene,” said Mikel Dirks, chief flight paramedic, Air Care Team.
The only hospital-based multiple aircraft flight program in the area, the Air Care Team uses three helicopters based in three counties – Lake, Osceola and Seminole. Air Care Team’s service area encompasses a 100-mile radius that covers 15 counties including Orange, Brevard, Citrus, Lake, Marion, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Volusia. In its 25 years of service the Air Care Team has treated more than 23,000 patients and flown over 1.4 million miles. The crew’s primary scene response calls are for motor vehicle incidents. Other calls include electrical injuries, falls and hospital to hospital transports for acute cardiac and stroke care, and other specialized services provided by Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Omniflight Helicopters Inc., which has been providing helicopter transportation services for 47 years, provides the pilots, mechanics and aviation services to ORMC’s Air Care Team and has worked with ORMC since the program began. Omniflight is a leading provider of air medical services throughout the United States. The company operates over 100 aircraft nationally from 72 bases in 18 states, with a strong presence across the Southeast in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas.
"Omniflight is very proud to have been in partnership with ORMC for the past 25 years,” said Brian Burrell Regional Manager for Omniflight in the Southeast. “Together with ORMC our commitment to the citizens of Central Florida is stronger than ever and we look for many more years of providing safe air operations and life saving transports to those that need it most."
In addition to helping save lives after critical injuries occur, the Air Care Team also spends valuable time in the community increasing trauma awareness and participating in prevention initiatives – safety fairs, mock scenarios with area schools and lecture series.
About Orlando Health
Orlando Health is a $1.5 billion not-for-profit health care organization and a community-based network of hospitals and care centers in the Orlando region. The organization, which includes the area’s only Level One Trauma Centers for adults and pediatrics, is a statutory teaching hospital system that offers both specialty and community hospitals. They are: Orlando Regional Medical Center; Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children; Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies; Dr. P. Phillips Hospital; South Seminole Hospital; South Lake Hospital (50 percent partnership); St. Cloud Regional Medical Center (20 percent partnership) and M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando – the first affiliate of one of the nation’s premier cancer centers The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Orlando Health’s areas of clinical excellence are heart and vascular, cancer care, neurosciences, surgery, pediatric orthopedics and sports medicine, neonatology, and obstetrics and gynecology.
Orlando Health is Central Florida’s fifth largest employer with nearly 14,000 employees and more than 2,000 affiliated physicians, all of whom support our philosophy of providing high quality care and service when it matters most. We prove this everyday with over 100,000 inpatient admissions and more than 600,000 outpatient visits each year. In all, Orlando Health serves 1.6 million Central Florida residents and nearly 3,000 international patients annually. Additionally, Orlando Health provides approximately $198 million in support of community health needs. More information can be found at www.orlandohealth.com.