LifeFlight uses two Airbus EC 145s, five Airbus EC135s, and two Airbus H130s. Eight of the nine helicopters are placed at bases, and one is used as a backup. There are eight bases located in Gallatin (Sumner County), Tullahoma (Coffee County), Clarksville (Montgomery County), Murfreesboro (Rutherford County), Mt. Pleasant (Maury County), Paris (Henry County), Cookeville (Putnam County) and Humboldt (Gibson County) - covering all of Middle Tennessee, parts of West Tennessee, East Tennessee, and Southern Kentucky.
Air Methods Corporation provides all air operations. Vanderbilt University Medical Center provides all medical services.
Our helicopters are some of the fastest in the Tennessee area, offer the flight crew complete access to the patient, and have some of the most advanced safety features in the industry.
The EC 145 and EC 135 have the ability for IFR (instrument flight rules) flights, and LifeFlight is one of the few programs in Middle and West Tennessee that has that capability.
Learn More About The Helicopters - Click on the photo.
 The interior of the EC 135 allows for complete patient access during treatment. |
 Another photo of the interior of the EC 135 - from the front. |
Critical Care Response Cars
A “Critical Care Response” car is located at each LifeFlight helicopter base for the critical care medical teams to meet local EMS teams and assist transport by ground ambulance on missions that can’t be completed by air due to weather conditions.
The vehicles do NOT respond to emergency scenes - but arrangements can be made to meet a ground EMS ambulance at a predetermined location or at the local hospital. The LifeFlight medical crew will have all of the medical equipment and supplies normally available on the helicopter, including lifesaving blood. The local EMS or hospital must request the response.
There is NO CHARGE for this service. LifeFlight does not bill the local EMS agency or the patient when accompanying via ground transport.
Exceptional Training and Care
Our helicopters carry either a nurse/nurse team or a nurse/paramedic team. All medical crew members are critical care trained. All RN helicopter crew members are dual licensed with both RN and EMT-P or EMT multi-state licenses. Continuing education and continuous quality improvement are required for flight crew members.
- LifeFlight nurses have an average of 10 years of experience in emergency and/or critical care.
- LifeFlight training covers all clinical areas of care, including the adult and pediatric emergency department, Coronary Care Unit, Trauma Center, Burn Center, Neuro ICU, Pediatric ICU, emergency obstetrics, and respiratory care.
- LifeFlight training includes a quarterly surgical skills lab where invasive procedures such as chest tube placement, cricothyroidotomy, pericardiocentesis, and femoral line insertion are taught.
- LifeFlight carries lifesaving blood products on every flight.
- Staff and physicians meet regularly to ensure patient care meets or exceeds national standards.
