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IU Health LifeLine is Indiana's first critical care transport system in the state, commencing air medical transport operations on July 15, 1979 from Methodist Hospital Indianapolis. Their first patient transport took place July 18, 1979, a horrific vehicle accident on Hwy 37 in Morgan County. Since that time, IU Health LifeLine has transported more than 50,000 accident-free patient transports.
LifeLine is a combined program, providing comprehensive services to all age groups. The Adult/Pediatric crews (5) consist of a Pilot, Flight Nurse, and Flight Paramedic. The Neonatal/Pediatric crews (3) are based out of Indianapolis and consist of a Registered Nurse, Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT), and/or Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and focus on critically ill children and newborns. Additionally, all medical crew members are required to maintain certifications pertinent to their scope of practice (CFRN, FP-C, CCRN, RRT-NPS).
LifeLine helicopters fly throughout the State of Indiana. LifeLine's fleet consists of one MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 and five Eurocopter EC 145 twin-engine helicopters with an average cruise speed of 150 miles per hour. Every aircraft is equipped with Garmin GNS530 Nav/Com/GPS systems, TAWS/TCAS, weather radar, night vision goggles, and satellite phone capabilities. LifeLine is also an instrument flight rule (IFR) program which expands their response capabilities by enabling them to complete missions in weather conditions below visual flight rule (VFR) minimums.
Each outlying base (Lafayette, Terre Haute, Columbus, and Richmond) operate an adult Mobile Intensive Care Unit or MICU for when meteorlogical conditions/IFR do not permit air medical transport.
LifeLine utilizes the most up-to-date, state of the art equipment available, including: Zoll X series monitors, Hamilton T-1 ventilators, Maquet intra aortic balloon pumps, iStat blood analyzer, and GE V-scan ultrasound. LifeLine was the first air transport provider in the state to carry blood products. They carry four units of O-negative on every mission and they have provided this service since 1996. Partnering with IU Health Methodist Trauma Services, an additional benefit being utilized is field trauma surgeons. This program enables trauma surgeons to respond to the scene of an accident involving prolonged extrication. Once on scene, they can perform life saving surgical procedures for extended entrapments or farm/industrial machinery injuries and then continue care during transport.
LifeLine provides comprehensive critical care medical transport service access across Indiana and portions of Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio with bases located at:
To learn more about IU Health LifeLine, click link: http://iuhealth.org/health-professionals/lifeline/