It’s been more than 22 years since St. John’s Life Line Flight Paramedic and senior crew member Eric Howard flew on his first mission with Life Line, but his love of the work and admiration of the now 25-year-old program haven’t faded a bit.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else. From the time I joined Life Line, I’ve felt it was a privilege and an honor to be part of it,” Howard says.

St. John’s Life Line is the oldest and most accident- and incident-free air ambulance service in the Ozarks. First named Hammons Life Line for Springfield businessman and philanthropist John Q. Hammons’ donation of St. Johns’ first helicopter, Life Line has provided 24-hour rapid air transport for seriously ill or critically injured patients since July 1, 1984. The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) fully accredited St. John’s Life Line Air Medical Service April 1, 2006.

Life Line is now comprised of four helicopters and 95 staff members.

Dispatched from bases in St. Robert, Bolivar and Branson West, Life Line helicopters airlift patients from hospitals, crash scenes or homes, provide life-saving care on board and transport them to a facility of their choice offering appropriate services. Life Line accepts requests from private individuals, but the majority of the program’s calls come from hospitals, emergency medical services and first responders.

Life Line 1 is located in Branson West, with a Eurocopter EC 135, which reaches maximum speeds of 180 miles per hour and average cruise speeds of 135 miles per hour. Life Line 2 is in St. Robert, also with an EC 135. Life Line 3 is located in Bolivar with the original aircraft, a MBB BO 105. Another full-time BO 105 is available when needed All four aircraft are operated by Metro Aviation of Shreveport, La.

 “By basing air ambulances in rural communities, we are able to decrease response times to the more remote locations that need our services,” says St. John’s emergency trauma physician and Life Line medical director Charles Sheppard, M.D. “A shorter trip to these areas increases our ability to save lives and have early access to patients in need. This type of off-basing aircraft is a national trend that has proven invaluable in terms of saving lives and improving trauma care.”

The flight crew is comprised of 95 highly trained and experienced pilots, registered nurses, paramedics and communication specialists trained in rapid air medical transport. A paramedic and nurse are on each flight.

“The flight nurses and paramedics are partners and make patient-care decisions together,” says Life Line Program Director DJ Satterfield. Decision making is not only important during patient care but is important as a safety culture of the program. All flights start with a flight risk assessment that includes the pilot, nurse, paramedic and communication specialist. Metro Aviation is also contacted before each flight through the Operational Control Center.
 
“Safety is paramount in everything we do,” says Satterfield.

Life Line’s safety culture includes a safety management system which is a communication process between all crew, Outerlink satellite tracking. Life Line will add night vision goggles to all aircraft by the end of the year. The pilots complete full-motion simulation training every year and practice flying in simulated weather conditions monthly.

Life Line’s state-of-the-art equipment affords immediate stabilizing treatment for a complete range of emergency conditions. On-board equipment includes a biphasic cardiac monitor, ventilator, defibrillator, external pacemaker, oxygen tanks, suction apparatus, endotracheal intubation devices, pulse oximeter, infusion pump, CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) devices, IABPs (intraaortic balloon pumps) when requested, 12-lead EKG and the clot-busting cardiac drug Retavase.

Life Line helicopters boast all new avionics in their cockpits and global positioning systems in each helicopter guide the crew to patients’ homes or to accident scenes. The helicopters can land just about anywhere, Howard says.
 
“We’ve landed in yards, driveways, pastures, parking lots, and on highways and roofs,” he says.
 
Life Line’s services also include a 24-hour neonatal transport team that transports ill or injured newborn babies to St. John’s Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
 
“We take a great deal of pride in our neonatal transport program,” says St. John’s neonatologist and NICU medical director Melinda Slack, M.D. “We have nurses who are hand-picked to provide neonatal air transport care. They must work in the NICU for at least a year before they are asked to become a neonatal flight nurse, and they receive very specialized training.”
 
Community outreach and education are both important components of the Life Line program. Life Line crew members are committed to competency and education with new and progressive trends in emergency medicine and critical care.

Flight crew perform clinical rotations throughout the hospital including time in the neonatal, pediatric, surgical, cardiac, neuro-trauma and burn critical care units as well as the Level 1 emergency trauma center. Special training also includes bi-annual cadaver labs, skills and education day, survival and safety day, quarterly airway training and quarterly training with the METI human patient simulator.

“The high-tech, state-of-the-art METI-man simulator trains us through critical care scenarios that prepare us for critical care decision making, patient safety and advanced skills,” says Jean Potts, Life Line education coordinator. “The METI-man has changed our education paradigm,” she says.
 
Life Line outreach programs include “Life Line Night Out,” a dynamic lecture series for rural providers of emergency care; a ground operations landing zone safety course; a flight preparation course; a safety and first-aid course for elementary and middle school students; and SOAR, (St. John’s Observation and Ride-Along Program) which allows health professionals, fire departments and law enforcement personnel to accompany the Life Line team on missions.

For more information about Life Line or its educational programs, please contact DJ Satterfield at 417-820-6679 or Jean Potts at 417-820-6985.