A Life Star critical-care helicopter will be stationed at MidState Medical Center in Meriden starting Friday, Hartford Healthcare announced last week.
The chopper is currently stationed at Hartford Hospital, but repositioning it at MidState will allow Life Star, a department of Hartford Hospital, to reach a wider patient geography and bring patients to the most appropriate clinical setting, often Hartford Hospital’s level 1 trauma center, according to a news release.
There’s also a Life Star helicopter stationed at Backus Hospital in Norwich, which is part of Hartford Healthcare as well.
Accident victims in Hartford are typically transported by ambulance to Harford Hospital’s trauma center, not by Life Star, said Rebecca Stewart, Hartford Healthcare spokeswoman. So the idea is to station the chopper closer to accident areas where it’s needed to transport patients, she said.
“It cuts down on response times,” Stewart said.
Life Star will have a temporary hangar at MidState until a permanent hangar is built, she said. It’s expected to be ready in about a year.
Life Star has transported more than 30,000 people and saved thousands of lives since its launch at Hartford Hospital in 1985. In June, Life Star crews began carrying blood products to allow for life-saving blood transfusion.
Life Star aircraft are available to all critical care patients within a 150-mile radius surrounding its bases. Aircraft crews consist of a flight nurse, flight respiratory therapist, pilot, mechanic and communication specialist.