LifeFlight

The LifeFlight team is made up of dedicated individuals including flight nurses, pilots, mechanics, communications specialists and administrative support personnel

Flight Nurses

A minimum of five years of critical care experience is required for the position, and prehospital experience is required. At this time all LifeFlight nurses hold Pennsylvania Certified Pre-Hospital Registered Nurse or Paramedic certifications. Many of the nurses are active in their local community fire and EMS services. The nursing staff is required to hold advanced certifications, such as Certified Flight Nurse, Certified Emergency Nurse or Critical Care Registered Nurse. Additionally, all nurses are certified in ACLS, PHTLS and PALS requirements, and are all full-time employees.

Many of the functions of the medical crew are performed under advanced protocols including, surgical airways, rapid sequence intubation, pericardiocentesis, femoral IV access, inter-osseous lines, escharotimies and other advanced techniques.

Pilots

LifeFlight pilots come to us with excellent experience flying both civilian and military aircraft. Our staff currently consists of a chief pilot and 20 line pilots. Metro Aviation, Inc. is our operator for pilots, mechanics and aircraft-related equipment.

Mechanics

Currently, Metro Aviation, Inc. provides a staff of seven mechanics who work around the clock to keep our four EC-145s, one Sikorsky S76 and one MD900 fully operational. Our mechanics come from a variety of backgrounds such as military and commercial aviation. Working out of our maintenance facility at Butler County Airport, the mechanics are able to deal with all routine work, inspections and maintenance issues on site.

Communications Specialists

Our Communications Specialists receive all incoming requests for rotor and ground transportation for the LifeFlight department. At the minimum, the coordinators must hold a Pennsylvania EMT certification and have previous radio and dispatching experience. Our coordinators are an integral part of the LifeFlight program. They coordinate all aircraft information for interhospital and scene run patients for the medical crew, medical command physician and receiving institution.

Support Personnel

Our administrative staff includes a Medical Director, Administrative Director, Nurse Manager, Manager of Prehospital Operations, Lead Pilot, Lead Maintainance Technician, Clinical Outreach Nurse, three Pre-hospital Outreach Coordinators and five EMS Program Coordinators.

Metro Aviation, Inc. operates the 6 helicopters in the LifeFlight program.