April 28, 2022 – Intermountain Life Flight, one of the premier air medical transport programs in the nation, unveiled its newest medical resource on Wednesday – a unique long-range medical jet that will be used to transport patients for highly-specialized care and also be used to enhance organ transplantation in Utah by retrieving donor organs from throughout the United States.
A specialized Intermountain Life Flight medical team joined a Utah family, whose six-year-old son’s life was saved last month by utilizing the medical jet for a highly-specialized procedure, in unveiling the new aircraft.
In addition, members of the Intermountain Life Flight program were joined by leaders from DonorConnect, the organ procurement agency that serves the Intermountain West, to talk about how they will use the medical jet to enhance organ transplantation in Utah.
“We’re really excited to have this invaluable resource to enhance organ transplantation in Utah,” said Tracy Schmidt, executive director of DonorConnect.
The new Intermountain Life Flight medical jet, a Bombardier Challenger 604, can fly anywhere in the world and will be used for longer distance patient transports or organ retrievals (1,500+ miles). The aircraft has a range of 4,600 miles.
The aircraft is unique as it has a large cabin area that can accommodate two patients and allow for complex medical procedures while in flight, such as the use of ECMO, which stands for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
ECMO is a highly-specialized critical life-saving heart-lung bypass treatment in which a circuit pumps and supplies oxygen to the blood. It’s an extraordinary, delicate procedure requiring a team of specialists on the flight.
“One of the great features of the Challenger is the large cabin that allows us to care for complex and very ill patients who require advanced care from specialized team members and necessary medical equipment,” said Kent Johnson, director of aviation operations for Intermountain Life Flight. “This aircraft is very reliable and unique, and we’re excited to add it to the Life Flight fleet.”
The Life Flight medical jet can carry eight passengers, and in addition to the large patient care area, has a crew rest area for pilots and medical team members.
“The ability that this aircraft provides for us to transport really complex patients is a tremendous resource that will result in many lives being saved,” said Tammy Bleak, RN, director of clinical operations for Intermountain Life Flight.