Flight Team & Safety
MedFlight team members have diverse skills and extensive experience making them ideal for our service. MedFlight skills and training are centered around ICU and Emergency skills practiced at Billings Clinic. MedFlight represents the best of what Billings Clinic has to offer to its patients and their families.
Highly trained in their area of expertise, MedFlight team members treat each transport as their most important mission. All MedFlight team memebers participate in four live intubations per quarter to maintain quality and expert patient care. MedFlight holds it crews to a higher standard which seeks the best outcome for all patients.
Clinical Coordinators
Clinical coordinators are responsible for organizing and overseeing the daily activities of Medflight, including training, clinics, and other patient care. They manage staff, communicate with different departments, locations, and ensure quality patient care.
- Billings Clinic Clinical MedFlight Coordinator
- Billings Clinic Bozeman MedFlight Clinical Coordinator
- Billings Clinic Health System MedFlight Operations Clinical Coordinator
Medical Directors
Demonstrating their commitment to MedFlight our Medical Directors are board certified in their area of practice and committed to the MedFlight mission of patient care.
Actively practicing their specialty they share their wealth of experience with the staff of MedFlight. In direct partnership with flight nurses and therapists and Billings Clinic physician leaders, they offer everyday hands on training in both the ICU and ER setting. Keeping MedFlight on the forefront of air medical ambulance skills and training is their goal.
Flight Dispatchers
MedFlight dispatchers may be located on the ground but they are literally with the patient and team throughout the duration of the flight. From the moment they receive a request in our dedicated dispatch center until the team returns home, these dedicated professionals remain in constant contact with the team via radio, satellite phone and computerized tracking. They also maintain this communication with EMS, hospital/medical personnel and even families during these critical moments. On constant duty, MedFlight dispatchers are an integral part of our service.
Flight Nurses
MedFlight nurses are the best of what Billings Clinic offers its patients and families. First and foremost they are highly skilled in their area of practice of stabilization, diagnosis, treatment and transfer. These skills are reinforced daily during ICU rounds and shift work both in the ER and ICU.
Thoroughly trained in the physiology of flight and side by side work with Billings Clinic physicians, they bring Billings Clinic to the bedside of patients in need.
All staff are required to maintain numerous advanced certifications as well as teaching these respective programs. Many of these include:
- ABLS - Advanced Basic Life Support
- ACLS - Advanced Cardiac Life Support
- BLS - Basic Life Support
- ENPC - Emergency Nurse Pediatric Curriculum
- PALS - Pediatric Advanced Life Support
- TBI - Trauma Brain Injury
- TNCC - Trauma Nurse Core Curriculum
- TNATC - Trauma Nurse Advanced Trauma Curriculum
Flight Paramedics
MedFlight paramedics play a pivotal role in the prehospital care offered to patients and families who fly with MedFlight. They are very highly skilled and experienced individuals in pre-hospital care/treatment. These skills are developed over multiple years of critical care ground transports prior to joining the MedFlight team. Our paramedics work alongside our highly skilled flight nurses to utilize both pre-hospital and inter-hospital skills for all patients.
All staff are required to maintain numerous advanced certifications as well as teaching these respective programs. Many of these include:
- ABLS - Advanced Basic Life Support
- ACLS - Advanced Cardiac Life Support
- BLS - Basic Life Support
- ENPC - Emergency Nurse Pediatric Curriculum
- PALS - Pediatric Advanced Life Support
- NRP- Neonatal Resusitation Program
- PHTLS- Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support
Flight Respiratory Therapists
MedFlight Respiratory Therapists provide advanced airway and ventilator management for patients from pediatric to adult. Trained by the Critical Care Pulmonologists they are specialists in air medical transport. These professionals maintain their level of expertise by continuing to work in the critical areas demonstrating their craft.
Possessing duplicate certifications as nurses, Registered Respiratory Therapists (RRT’s) function in concert with the nurse making crucial treatment decisions that impact the overall outcomes of patients. Cross trained RRT's are fully trained in patient assessment, packaging, treatment, medication administration and patient management.
With advanced skills that mirror their nurse partners the Respiratory Care Therapists are an invaluable part of the MedFlight team.
Obstetric Flight Nurses
Transfer of high-risk patients from a referring hospital is available by ambulance or the specialized MedFlight team. A specialized group of maternal nurses are available to assist in the transfer of the high-risk pregnancy patient from an outlying hospital to Billings Clinic.
High Risk OB Transport Criteria
• Obstetrical emergencies including trauma, delivery complications or delivery of a pre-term infant
• Premature rupture of membranes
• Pre-Eclampsia/HELLP Syndrome
• Fetal abnormalities
• Multiple gestation
• Premature labor
• Vaginal bleeding
• Cardiac OB
• Other complications of pregnancy not listed
Neonatal Transport Team
Transport of premature or ill infants from a referring hospital is available by ambulance or with the Neonatal MedFlight Team. A specialized team of neonatal intensive care nurses and registered respiratory therapists can assist in the transfer of the infant from an outlying hospital to the 13-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Billings Clinic.
Neonatal Transport Criteria
• All infants less than 30 days of age
• Premature infants less than 37 weeks
• All infants with respiratory distress
• Infants requiring nitric oxide
• Infants requiring cardiac or surgical interventions
MedFlight Safety
MedFlight places the safety of our patients, crew, pilots and health care partners above all else. Recognizing the demanding nature of our work we constantly strive to exceed the best practice standards for air ambulance service. Variables in weather, landing areas and communication all contribute to the risk factors to our crews, safety is everyone’s responsibility.
MedFlight has long been a proponent of crew safety.
Runways are crucial to MedFlight reaching the patient safely. MedFlight pilots make all efforts to ensure the safety of their passengers and crew. By using computerized flight tracking via satellite our dispatchers can track flights in real time.
By using computerized data collection systems MedFlight personnel can easily track trends and perform QA/QI quickly and efficiently. Digital preservation of all flight records adds an extra level of security and privacy.
Fixed wing pilots have digital weather radar technology during flight. In this way they can predict turbulent weather and make changes in the flight path to make each transport a comfortable one for both patient and family. Satellite phone service is accessible during flight making contact with ground services easy.
Maintaining our two Beechcraft King Airs, MedFlight, in conjunction with its vendor, Edwards Jet Center, has three full-time mechanics on duty and on call 24/7. Keeping detailed repair records, Edwards Jet Center mechanics keep our aircraft in top performance condition.
Safety is our highest priority in MedFlight. Our mechanics excel as master aircraft mechanics. Expertise in King Air maintenance makes them a key to our success.
Medical Qualifications
The standards of care for MedFlight personnel provide for the rapid assessment, diagnosis and treatment of the critically ill or injured patient. Flight crews are directly involved in research and training that impacts patient care. The written protocols that reflect the most current medical thinking enables our teams to begin that time sensitive treatment.
Rigorous ongoing education and hands on training are necessary to support the extensive skills and knowledge that are the expectation of flight team members. Team members have an intimate knowledge of flight physiology, airway management, advanced IV access, use of chemical sedation and paralytic, Burn treatment, cardiac abnormalities, pediatric skills, IABP therapy and many life saving skills. Air Medical Resource management is another facet of this training.
Staff continue their training with daily ICU rounds, advanced procedure assistance and performance, simulator work with real life scenarios, shift work in the ICU and ER and operating suite to further advance these skills.
MedFlight medical directors are board certified in their areas of expertise. In association with flight staff daily we improve the health care delivery system.
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