SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (Good Things Utah) – Intermountain Life Flight, one of the premier air medical transport programs in the nation, is helping Utahan’s and others around the world who need long-range medical air transportation to receive medical care from anywhere they may be located.

The Intermountain Life Flight medical charter service has already helped Utahan’s needing medical care throughout the world return to Utah from far-flung locations including, Thailand, Mexico, Canada and South America. 

One of the main features of the Intermountain Life Flight medical charter service is a unique long-range medical jet that is used to transport patients for highly-specialized care and also to enhance organ transplantation in Utah by retrieving donor organs from throughout the United States.

The Intermountain Life Flight medical jet, a Bombardier Challenger 604, can fly anywhere in the world and is used for longer distance patient transports or organ retrievals (1,500+ miles). The aircraft has a range of more than 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 aircraft 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 have it as part of our Intermountain 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 Laurie Merrick, RN, pediatric flight nurse for Intermountain Life Flight.

Sponsored by Intermountain Health.