Airlift Northwest is a preeminent provider of air medical services in the Pacific Northwest dedicated to providing safe, efficient air medical care to critically ill and injured infants, children and adults.
Patients could include snowboarders in Juneau, Alaska, rock climbers in the Cascade Mountains or those injured in car crashes along one of the region’s busy highways. Airlift Northwest has also served patients needing life-saving medical attention because of high-risk pregnancy, premature birth or medical problems that take a turn for the worse.
The program provides air medical service for one of the largest and most geographically varied service areas in the world — from isolated islands in Alaska to coastal villages in Western Washington and the high-desert communities in Eastern Washington.
Airlift Northwest provides air medical service from one of five bases located strategically throughout the Pacific Northwest. The rotary-wing division operates four bases in Washington — Bellingham, Arlington, Seattle and Olympia — that provide almost 700 hours per week of air medical services to Western and Central Washington.
Fixed-wing bases are located in Seattle and Juneau, Alaska, enabling Airlift Northwest to provide timely air medical transport services to a much broader region, including any location in the continental United States or Canada.
Airlift Northwest has safely cared for more than 80,000 patients and taken more than 250,000 takeoffs and landings since its inception in 1982. The program’s commitment to safety has resulted in investments in some of the most up-to-date equipment available, including state-of-the-art night vision goggles, satellite tracking and communications, as well as GPS approach systems.
Aircraft are equipped with the latest recommended equipment, including terrain avoidance warning systems and aircraft proximity warnings, in addition to a weather radar and night-vision goggles.
Airlift Northwest is part of the UW Medicine health-care system, which also includes Harborview Medical Center, UW Medical Center, UW Neighborhood Clinics and the UW School of Medicine.
Expertise
All aircraft fly with teams of two nurses certified in advanced cardiac life support, advanced trauma life support, pediatric advanced life support, trauma nursing care, neonatal resuscitation, critical care nursing, emergency nursing and flight nursing. This level of expertise is unique in the air medical industry and comparable to that found in a hospital intensive care unit.
Accreditation
Airlift Northwest has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Services, or CAMTS, since 1997. Airlift Northwest was the first air medical service in Southeast Alaska to receive this recognition. Accreditation means a medical transport service meets a series of industry standards that address issues of patient care and safety.
Community Service
Staff provides medical education and participates in community activities throughout the region. Airlift Northwest provides annual training in setting up safe landing zones for first responders and fire departments. It also reviews helipads annually, assists hospitals with training in order to make new helipads operational and helps hospitals develop policies and procedures pertaining to aircraft safety.
AirCare Program
Airlift Northwest is pleased to offer a membership program that provides residents in communities in Alaska and Washington with high-quality air medical service at an affordable cost. As part of membership, the portion of the Airlift Northwest bill that isn’t covered by insurance or Medicare is paid when Airlift Northwest is requested by a medical facility or an emergency response team to fly a critically ill or injured patient to appropriate medical care. AirCare membership is $79 a year and covers all members of a household.
2008 Statistics
Number of flights: 4,100
Rotary-wing, inter-hospital transfers: 51 percent
Rotary-wing, 911/EMS scene responses: 25 percent
Fixed-wing flights: 24 percent
History
Airlift Northwest was founded in 1982 by Dr. Michael Copass and a consortium of hospitals in the Seattle area, including University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle Children’s and Harborview Medical Center, to bring high-quality air medical transportation to an underserved area — Southeast Alaska. Today, Airlift Northwest continues to provide air medical services anywhere in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.
Airlift Northwest
6987 Perimeter Road South, Suite 110Seattle, WA 98108
206.521.1599
www.airliftnw.org
Photos: Left photo, Therese Frare. Right photo, Clare McLean/UW Medicine News, Community Relations & Marketing.