Care Flight accredited

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DAYTON — CareFlight Air and Mobile Services recently received its ninth consecutive three-year accreditation from the Commission on the Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS).

Premier Health’s CareFlight, which celebrates 35 years of service this fall, has been continuously CAMTS-accredited since 1994, one of the first programs in the United States to undergo a review by the commission. Started in the early 1990s, CAMTS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of patient care and safety of the transport environment for services providing rotor wing, fixed wing and ground transport services and is considered the gold standard for the industry.

“Premier Health is extremely proud to operate a critical care transport service that prioritizes patient care and safety, as this accreditation shows,” said Mike Maiberger, president of Miami Valley Hospital and executive vice president and chief operating officer of Premier Health. “CareFlight continually strives to take care to a higher level. Our highly skilled crews have partnered with emergency medical services and community hospitals spanning a 17-county region to save countless lives, completing more than 60,000 transports since 1983.”

CAMTS evaluated all CareFlight Air & Mobile personnel, including flight nurses, critical care paramedics, pilots, mobile intensive care unit (MICU) drivers, mechanics, communications specialists, and administrative staff, during a site visit earlier this year. All CareFlight vehicles — four Dauphin helicopters and six MICUs — also were inspected.

“Since its inception 35 years ago, CareFlight has become a vital heathcare service for our community,” said Dr. Andrew Hawk, medical director of CareFlight Air and Mobile Services. “Our ninth passing of this rigorous inspection reflects our sustained commitment to strive for excellence and provide exemplary life-saving care each and every day.”

CareFlight helicopters are stationed at Miami Valley Hospital, the Warren County Airport, and Grimes Field in Urbana. Each can carry a pilot, two flight nurses, and up to two patients traveling at a speed of 180 miles per hour. Aviation services are provided by Air Methods Corp.

Crews work closely with local emergency medical services and community hospitals to provide the fastest air medical transport in the region to more than 20 hospitals and more than 300 fire departments and police departments serving a multi-state, 150-mile radius. Those transported to the area’s only Level I trauma center at Miami Valley Hospital include cardiac, surgical, obstetrical, pediatric and other critical care patients.

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