Vanderbilt LifeFlight

Vanderbilt LifeFlight is the critical care air medical transport service of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt since 1984. LifeFlight operates as a community asset and will transport to any appropriate hospital. Vanderbilt LifeFlight is part of the non-profit Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and is the only non-profit air medical service in Middle Tennessee.

Vanderbilt LifeFlight is made up of six divisons:

Airplane
Discharge Transport
Emergency Communications
Event Medicine
Ground EMS
Helicopter

LifeFlight has seven aircraft and three ground ambulances. Those include three American Eurocopter EC 145 helicopters, two American Eurocopter EC135 helicopters, One American Eurocopter EC 130 and a King Air 200 fixed wing aircraft, and specialized critical care ambulances.

Our bases are strategically placed in Lebanon, Tullahoma, Clarksville, Smyrna and Mt. Pleasant, thus providing rapid access to definitive care for all of Middle Tennessee, Southern Kentucky, and Northern Alabama. Staffed by highly trained flight nurses, flight paramedics, communicators and pilots, LifeFlight provides the highest level of care during transport.  View our coverage areas here.

LifeFlight medical crews perform medical procedures in the aircraft including:

• Rapid sequence induction with oral intubation
• Nasal intubation
• Needle and surgical cricothyrotomy
• Needle chest decompression
• Chest tube placement, pericardiocentesis
• Central IV placement
• Bood transfusion with packed red blood cells carried on board
• transportation of patients requiring intra-aortic balloon pump assistance
• specialized pediatric, neonatal and maternal cases
• LTV 1200 ventilators capable of mechanical ventilation, cpap and bipap

Emergency Department attending physicians at Vanderbilt Hospital provide medical control. Specialty physicians from areas such as toxicology, obstetrics, neonatology, neurosurgery, and cardiology can be reached at all times during transport.

All rotor wing carrier transportation services are provided by Air Methods Corporation.  Fixed wing transportation services are provided by Seven Bar.