Duke Life Flight has officially joined the Metro family of operations customers. The hospital-based, traditional air medical program, part of Duke Health, will also be receiving two new EC145e aircraft with instrument flight rules (IFR) capability. Metro will assume operational control of the program in January 2020.
“Metro Aviation’s commitment to improving the safety and quality in the air medical industry is unparalleled; we are excited to partner with a company with whom we share common goals,” said René Borghese, Life Flight administrative director.
Life Flight was founded in 1985 as the first hospital-based emergency transport service in North Carolina. Today, Life Flight flies more than 900 critical care transport cases a year and incorporates nurses, critical care paramedics, advanced life support paramedics and a dedicated neonatal/pediatric transport team consisting of nurses and respiratory therapists. In addition to responding to accident scenes and hospital transport requests, the team is able to provide care to patients who require specialized equipment such as extra-corporal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP), and nitric oxide ventilation.
“Duke Life Flight has been a leader in air medical transport since it began over 30 years ago,” said Metro Aviation chief operating officer Kenny Morrow. “Our relationship with Life Flight began in 2012 with the delivery of two EC145 aircraft and we are honored to further that partnership by providing aviation operations for a program that has demonstrated innovation and a commitment to care since its inception.”
Metro Aviation will hire and train the pilots and mechanics to be provided, and complete comprehensive training for Life Flight’s communication center personnel and medical crew. Life Flight covers all of North Carolina, and parts of South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia from its bases at Duke University Medical Center and Johnston Country Airport in Smithfield, North Carolina.
