CareFlite is a nonprofit

ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...

service based in

Grand Prairie, Texas Grand Prairie is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Dallas County, Texas, Dallas, Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant, and Ellis County, Texas, Ellis counties with a small part extending into Johnson County, Texas , Johnson county. It ...

, which operates throughout North and Central

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. CareFlite's original namesake service is helicopter

air ambulance Air medical services are the use of aircraft, including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to provide various kinds of urgent medical care, especially prehospital, emergency and critical care to patients during aeromedical evacuation an ...

, though today it also performs

fixed-wing A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using Lift (force), aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotorcraft, rotary-wing aircraft (in which a Helicopter rotor, r ...

and ground transport. CareFlite's Board of Directors includes representatives from

Texas Health Resources Texas Health Resources is a faith-based non-profit health system operating in North Texas, United States. It provides both in and out patient care across its network of facilities. The health system includes Texas Health Physician's Group and h ...

, Methodist Health System, Baylor Scott & White Health Care System, Parkland Health and Hospital System, and the

JPS Health Network The Tarrant County Hospital District (TCHD) does business as the JPS Health Network. It is located in the taxpayer-supported hospital district of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas. Headquarters are in the John Peter Smith Hospital at 1 ...

History

CareFlite began operations in 1979. It originated with one helicopter, a Bell 206L, which was shared between Methodist Dallas Medical Center and Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital. It is the oldest joint-use air medical program in the United States. CareFlite augmented their air ambulance service with ground operations in 1981.

Fleet

Current aircraft

CareFlite currently operates eight helicopters, one fixed-wing aircraft, and several ground ambulances. * 2

Bell 429 The Bell 429 GlobalRanger is a light, twin-engine helicopter developed by Bell Helicopter and Korea Aerospace Industries. The first flight of the prototype took place on February 27, 2007,Bell 407GX * 1 Bell 407GXi * 1 Beech C90

Former aircraft

* Agusta AW109 * Bell 222UT * Bell 206L

Operations

Air Operations

Each aircraft is staffed by a pilot, a flight nurse, and a flight paramedic. CareFlite aircraft provide emergency support for 9-1-1 services, as well as interfacility transfers. Specialty transports performed in cooperation with sponsor facilities include ECMO, IABP, Impella, and field amputation teams.

Ground Operations

In addition to ground interfacility transfer and wheelchair van services, CareFlite provides 9-1-1 EMS ground service in the following areas: *

Hill County Hill County is the name of two counties in the United States: * Hill County, Montana Hill County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 16, ...

* Johnson County * Kaufman County

Bases of Operation

Air Bases

Helicopter

* Methodist Dallas Medical Center * Texas Health Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital * Terrell Municipal Airport * North Texas Medical Center * Granbury Regional Airport *

Whitney, Texas Whitney is a city in Hill County, Texas, United States. Its population was 1,992 at the 2020 census. The city is east of Lake Whitney. History Whitney was established in 1876 when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad (H&TC) built a line ...

Burnet, Texas Burnet ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Burnet County, Texas, United States. Its population was 6,436 at the 2020 census. Both the city and the county were named for David Gouverneur Burnet, the first (provisional) president of the Re ...

Fixed-wing

* Grand Prairie Municipal Airport

Ground Bases

* Plano *

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univ ...

* Lewisville * Azle *

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

Grapevine ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, bot ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

* Richardson * Duncanville * Willow Park * Stephenville * Seagoville * Mabank * Kemp * Kaufman * Forney * Terrell *

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

* Cleburne * Burleson FD Station 3 * ESD Station 83 *

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

* Alvarado * Grandview *

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

* Burleson FD Station 16 * Hubbard * Itasca * Hillsboro * Whitney * Covington

Accidents

* On September 3, 2003, a CareFlite AW109 lost power while taking off from the Methodist Dallas Medical Center. The pilot aborted the takeoff, forcing the aircraft onto its side on the helipad to avoid going over the side of the building. The pilot was injured in the crash. * On June 2, 2010, a CareFlite 222 was undergoing a post-maintenance flight near

Midlothian, Texas Midlothian is a city in northwest Ellis County, Texas, United States. The city is southwest of Dallas. It is the hub for the cement industry in North Texas, as it is the home to three separate cement production facilities, as well as a steel mil ...

, when it broke up in the air. The pilot and the mechanic on board were both killed in the crash. The probable cause was found to be fracture of a swashplate drive pin. * On September 30, 2012, a CareFlite AW109 dispatched on mission entered IFR conditions, shortly thereafter descending from the clouds. The aircraft impacted the ground at a level attitude, skidded and landed on its side. The three crew members were seriously injured.

Memberships

As with some other air ambulance services, CareFlite offers yearly memberships to cover transport costs not paid by medical insurance. The membership costs are charged per household. This includes helicopter, ground, and most fixed-wing transport costs.

Fixed-wing transport

If insurance deems a fixed-wing transport usage not medically necessary or denies claim, the member is responsible 50% of the charges.

References

{{Reflist

External links

CareFlite website

Bringing Health and Hope – CareFlite Texas
__FORCETOC__ Air ambulance services in the United States Healthcare in Texas Aviation in Texas