CareFlight celebrates 40 years of service, life saving care

DAYTON — It is one of the first air medical services established in the United States.

This year, CareFlight is celebrating 40 years of service to the community.

News Center 7′s Mike Campbell got a look at the important and difficult work the CareFlight crew does for critical care patients.

The takeoff is so smooth that you barely realize they are off the ground.

The crew took News Center 7 to multiple locations they make drop off or pick up patients.

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Including Miami Valley Hospital South near I-675.

“Its purpose is to deliver cutting-edge care in a very time-dependent situation,” Dr. Randy Marriott, emergency department physician, and medical director of the Premier Health EMS Center of Excellence said.

Marriott said the program started in 1983 and has since grown from one helicopter to four and 70 employees.

But the goal is still the same, the best and fastest care available.

“We ask them to do things we don’t ask others,” he said.

Dana Zack has been a flight nurse for five years. She described it as an emergency room, intensive care until and operating room all in one.

Communicating while on a helicopter is a lot different than on the ground.

“We’ll just use hand signals or we just work together so often and so much that we kind of read each other’s minds,” Zack said.

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She said there are two flight nurses on each trip and they are constantly able to provide patient care, even in the air.

“We have full access to the patient so even if we need to be in our belts we’re still able to do the procedures or give the medications we need to,” She said.

Zack said it’s as cool as it sounds.

“Seriously the best job in the world, my dream job,” she said.

The CareFlight team is proud of what they’ve done and how they’ve served the community for the last 40 years.

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