Orlando Health is home to Central Florida's only Level One Trauma Center. Our Air Care Team, the helicopter ambulance service, supported by the airborne emergency transport unit, responds to the scene and transports calls and serves all Orlando Health hospitals, the team also provides assistance and support to other hospitals located throughout Florida based on medical necessity.
Our Air Care Team treats each patient with efficiency and compassion. We know that no one plans for these traumatic events, so we want our patients to get back to the highest quality of life possible. We facilitate an organized, multidisciplinary response system that helps patients return to their prior level of function and interaction within society.
This continuum of care includes injury prevention, EMS and medical oversight of pre-hospital care, appropriate triage and transport, resuscitation and emergency care, surgical intervention, intensive and general acute care, rehabilitative services, behavioral health, social services, community re-integration plans and medical care follow-up. Our Air Care Team is equipped with state-of-the-art technology to provide safe and reliable transport to our most critically ill patients.
A Brief History of the Air Care Team:
The Orlando Health Air Care Team began operations on October 13, 1984 with a BO-105 helicopter and completed their first patient flight on November 17, 1984. It did not take long for the hospitals and emergency responders of Central Florida to realize the value of the new air medical helicopter service, and the program soon upgraded their helicopter to the bigger BK-117. The sole BK-117 helicopter was the flagship of the Air Care Team until 2008, when the program expanded to two, and eventually three BK-117 helicopters, to meet the growing needs of our community. As new technologies in both aviation and healthcare became available, in 2015, the fleet of BK-117 helicopters were phased out and replaced with newer EC-135 helicopters.
Since the early days of the Air Care Team, our team has flown more than 37,000 patients over 2 million accident-free miles. In 2019, The Air Care Team celebrated 35 years of service; a monumental achievement for any program in the air medical industry. We attribute the success and longevity of our program to a dedicated group of professionals who put safety above all, and patient care at the forefront of our existence.
Today, the Air Care Team continues to serve Central Florida with three EC-135 helicopters located at the Orlando Health, South Seminole Hospital in Longwood; the Leesburg and Kissimmee Airports. We are ready to provide the care our patients need 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Learn more about our Air Care Team:
