Two Air Medical Transport and Rescue Programs Celebrate Key Anniversaries Marking Service and Lives Saved
Sep 15, 2023
Both Intermountain Health companies are celebrating anniversaries serving patients, Classic Air Medical its 35th and Intermountain Life Flight its 45th.
(PRUnderground) September 15th, 2023
Milestone anniversaries were recently celebrated by two of the nation’s premier air medical transport and rescue programs. Intermountain Life Flight is celebrating its 45th anniversary, while Classic Air Medical is commemorating its 35th anniversary. Both are part of the Intermountain Health system and provide life-saving service to thousands of patients throughout the nation.
Past patients, pilots, flight nurses, caregivers, and first responders, gathered last week on the helipad at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah to celebrate these milestones and the almost 200,000 lives that were aided and saved during those many decades of service.
Intermountain Life Flight, which is the only civilian air medical transport program in the nation licensed and authorized by the FAA to perform hoist rescues, has one of the longest histories of service in the nation, with service beginning in August 1978.
During the past 45 years, the Intermountain Life Flight program, which began with one helicopter at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, has transported 118,756 patients by airplane and helicopter more than 17.3 million patient miles.
“The Intermountain Life Flight program has a deep history, with Life Flight’s first flight to Roosevelt, Utah in 1978 and Classic Air Medical beginning services on Memorial Day 1988,” said Rob Allen, president and CEO of Intermountain Health. “Combined the two transport 32 patients a day. The success of the Intermountain Life Flight program is thanks to the many caregivers in the air and on the ground, who have dedicated themselves to helping our many communities and people in need.”
Classic Air Medical, also part of the Intermountain Health system, is celebrating 35 years of service and providing air medical support from 24 bases across the Rocky Mountain and Desert Southwest, with coverage from New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho.
In 2021, Classic Air Medical joined Intermountain Health. Together with Life Flight this forms the largest air ambulance service supporting not-for-profit healthcare in the nation, with 31 bases throughout the Mountain West and 56 aircraft.
In 2022, Classic Air Medical transported approximately 6,559 patients with its fleet of 32 aircraft, including 22 helicopters and 10 airplanes.
“The longevity and reputation of these two trailblazing air medical programs shows Intermountain’s commitment to providing coordinated care as close to home as possible,” said Tony Henderson, chief executive officer of Classic Air Medical and executive director of medical transport services for Intermountain. “We thank our EMS partners and first responders throughout the region who have helped us reach these milestones and safely serve our many communities.”
In 2022, Intermountain Life Flight transported 4,548 patients with its fleet of seven helicopters, three airplanes, one Cessna jet airplane, and one Challenger long-range jet.
Christina Michel, 39, knows first-hand the value of this life-saving type of rescue.
Last May, while hiking Mount Timpanogos with a friend, Michel slipped while crossing an ice patch close to the summit.
She got up and tried to maneuver herself to safety, but fell again. This time, a rock, often called a “land shark,” stopped her fall. With no way to go up or down, she managed to pull her phone out of her pocket and call 911 for help.
“If it’s too dangerous and puts another life at risk, I’m done,” thought Michel, while recalling how she held on to that rock for dear life.
An Intermountain Life Flight helicopter and crew soon arrived, and she saw a paramedic being hoisted down to help her, but due to the terrain, had trouble getting to her.
Soon she felt her feet being put into the hoist harness and before she knew it, she was in the Intermountain Life Flight helicopter headed for safety.
“It was a sense of relief, a sense of disbelief. I was in a daze,” said Michel. “It happened so fast, but I was just so grateful to be safe.”
The Intermountain Life Flight helicopters are designed to handle high-altitude flights, as well as maneuvers in the Mountain West’s rugged terrain and extreme climate.
In addition to hoist rescues, other specialty transport teams and services part of the Intermountain Life Flight program includes: neonatal, pediatric, rural ground transport, high risk obstetrics, mechanical circulatory support, and respiratory support.
For Jake Blackwelder, a medic with Classic Air Medical, based in Moab, he found being on the other side of a rescue a humbling experience.
Just last month, while returning home from a family camping trip in Western Colorado, Blackwelder’s family had stopped in Ridgway when their 9-year-old daughter, Olivia, began experiencing a seizure.
Blackwelder recounts how her jaw was clenched, her breathing was labored, and she began vomiting. His wife immediately called 911.
Blackwelder knew she needed medication – and needed it now.
His daughter stopped seizing when the ambulance arrived from Montrose, and he got a thumbs up from her right hand, but no response from her left side. Concerned she may have had a stroke, Blackwelder knew she may need to be flown to a hospital and that Classic Air Medical would be the best one for her, so he called his team.
Due to weather concerns, the Classic Air Medical crew flew her from Montrose to Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, which was comforting to the Blackwelder’s since they knew the hospital well. Little Olivia had been treated there for leukemia as a child.
At Primary Children’s, Olivia’s neurologist diagnosed her with “Self-Limited Epilepsy with Central Temporal Spikes” or SLECTS. This type of epilepsy happens to children around the time that they are sleeping or napping or waking up from sleeping.
Her doctors say she will likely grow out of it in four to six years.
“The comfort and peace of mind I got from talking to a familiar voice, who was calm and reassuring, was so incredibly helpful and relieving,” said Blackwelder. “To the people that showed up to our emergency, and all the folks in communication center who worked on our behalf, we are so grateful for their time, compassion, and empathy.”
About Intermountain Health
Headquartered in Utah with locations in seven states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, 385 clinics, medical groups with some 3,900 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information or updates, see https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.
The post Two Air Medical Transport and Rescue Programs Celebrate Key Anniversaries Marking Service and Lives Saved first appeared on
Press Contact
Name: Erin Goff Phone: (801) 507-4755 Email: Contact UsOriginal Press Release.
More News
Southeast Asia’s ethnic Chinese traders feel the China squeeze
Almost every year, Kevin Stewart flies to China to find stock for his Indonesian businesses. But increasingly, the factories he visits are selling to his customers too, sometimes for less than they charge him. A data science manager in the tech sector by day, the Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneur also helps run home-living and pet-supply companies that sell to other businesses and direct to consumers, including through e-commerce platforms. Yet Chinese companies listing directly on Indonesian...
Dino-mite treasures: inside Singapore’s ‘Fort Knox’ storing playthings of ultra-rich
Stored in a climate-controlled environment within what is commonly known as the “Fort Knox of Singapore” rests the skull of a triceratops which once roamed the earth 66 million years ago. The jagged edges of its frill and horns are largely intact, and according to its owner, Chaw Wei Yang, 26, it is one of the most complete triceratops skull fossils ever found. Chaw, who runs Fine Art Storage Services (FASS) located inside Le Freeport, formerly known as Singapore Freeport, along with his...
Trump’s second Asean summit presence comes at a price for region
US President Donald Trump is expected to drive hard bargains on tariffs and critical minerals in his return to the Asean summit in Manila next month, with Washington seeking greater economic and strategic concessions while remaining hawkish on China. The Philippines confirmed on Wednesday that Trump would fly in for the summit from November 16 to 18, before attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Shenzhen that same week. Trump’s second consecutive appearance at the forum...
19 dead, 25 hurt in stampede at India religious festival
At least 19 people were killed and two dozen more injured on Saturday in eastern India after a stampede that occurred during sudden rainfall at a Hindu religious gathering, officials and Indian media said. West Bengal’s Chief Minister Suvendhu Adhikari told reporters the fatalities included a seven-year-old girl, adding that 25 other people were injured outside a pavilion “in a stampede” at the Hindu festival of Durga Puja in the city of Kolkata. “Six bodies have so far been identified,”...
17 Dead, Dozens Injured After Stampede at Indian Religious Event
Such deadly crowd events are relatively common in India, and it was unclear what caused this one. Authorities detained the event’s organizer and others involved.
Deadly School Roof Collapse in Pakistan Raises Questions Over Regulation
A teacher and 32 children were killed in northwest Pakistan in an episode has prompted safety inspections of schools across the region.
‘Cockroach’ party founder released by Indian police
India’s youth-led Cockroach Janata Party founder Abhijeet Dipke was released from detention on Saturday, a day after his arrest during a police crackdown on protests against the election authority. Dipke, 31, was detained Friday in New Delhi as he headed to join a rally that the CJP protest movement had called in the capital’s central Connaught Place district. He walked out of a police station on Saturday afternoon waving to the media and giving a thumbs up as he was driven away. “Abhijeet Dipke...
Indian Gen Z Protest Leader Is Released on Bail After Arrest
Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, was detained on his way to a protest called to demand the resignation of India’s top election official.
Dancing Salaryman Pokes Fun at Japan’s Buttoned-Down Culture
Toru Utsumi has won more than a million fans on TikTok and Instagram with short, fancy-free videos.
Japan’s ‘Dancing Salaryman’ Can’t Stop Grooving
Toru Utsumi, 60, works as a management consultant, but on his days off, he has become a global internet star — despite some local disapproval.
A Wayward Shark Becomes a Celebrity in South Korea
Stranded in a port waterway for weeks, the 10-foot fish has attracted more than a million spectators, while officials try to guide her back to open sea.
China’s proposed AI tech export bans may create short-term costs, long-term gains: analysts
China’s proposed export bans and controls of artificial intelligence technologies aim to tighten Beijing’s grip in the strategically vital sector, casting a cloud over the commercial prospects of domestic model developers in the global AI race, analysts say. The new measures come as concerns mount globally over the risks of advanced AI systems, following a string of recent cyberattacks, while also underscoring AI’s growing national security importance for both Beijing and Washington. Zhang Yi,...
YOUR NEWS, OUR NETWORK.
Do you have Great News you want to tell the world?
Be it updates about your business or your community, you can make sure that it’s heard by submitting your story to our network reaching hundreds of news sites across 6 verticals.