New FlightCare Helicopter

The Airbus H130 is an updated version of Enloe Health’s existing H130, previously called EC130T2, aircraft. It cost about $5.4 million and has been allowing crews to rotate between two air ambulances more efficiently. This will extend the life of both aircrafts.

It will also allow Enloe to retire its 23-year-old AStar helicopter, which used to be the backup aircraft.

When FlightCare’s H130 helicopter went into service, families saw a big change — a parent or caregiver was able to travel with pediatric patients. Specialized tools and resources, like a temperature-controlled device called an isolette for neonatal patients, helped make it possible.

Temperature drops are dangerous for these fragile infants, and an isolette is the safest way to transport these babies in the air. Enloe Health’s new helicopter is equipped with these same capabilities to help keep families together during emergencies.

In addition to providing comfort and security, keeping children with their parents allows critical decisions to be made immediately upon arrival at pediatric specialty centers.

Fitting critical pieces of equipment and medication from a sophisticated intensive care unit room into a small transport environment takes thought, planning, the appropriate space, and aircraft capability. Just like the H130 helicopter, the new aircraft checks each of those boxes.

For patients who need to be transferred to receive specialized heart care, FlightCare helicopters can accommodate a temporary cardiac assist device called an impella. It sits in a patient’s left ventricle and pumps blood to help alleviate the workload of a sick heart.

An extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine is another lifesaving piece of equipment the H130 helicopter can accommodate. It pumps and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body, allowing a patient’s heart and lungs to rest while providing the circulation and oxygenation needed to sustain life.

The onboard technology aren’t the only things that set FlightCare apart. The program is the only hospital-owned and -operated air medical service in the state. It is led by highly trained trauma nurses who work in the Enloe Health Emergency Department when they’re not in the air. The program is staffed with five pilots, five flight paramedics, seven flight nurses and two mechanics — every day.

“Our FlightCare team is fully integrated into Enloe’s culture of excellent service. We don’t use float crews — we live here, and our families live here,” said Jenny Humphries, Director of Emergency Medical Services and Chief Flight Nurse at Enloe Health. “We have knowledge of our local geography and love helping our community.”