After eight months of serving out of the Pearland community, HCA Houston Healthcare’s AirLife program has expanded again, opening its third helicopter base in late January at 1401 N. Travis St., Liberty. HCA Houston Healthcare also has a base in Conroe, said Annette Garber, HCA Houston Healthcare’s media relations director.
When HCA Houston Healthcare opened its AirLife air and ground base in Pearland in summer 2021, the goal was to expand service to communities outside of the immediate downtown Houston area, said Jared Lee, the director of business development for AirLife medical transport.
“The proximity of this aircraft to the southern reaches of Brazoria County and area [Emergency Medical Services] certainly enhances the overall access to care for patients requiring rapid transport to a higher level of care,” HCA Houston Healthcare Pearland CEO David Wagner said.
AirLife is HCA Houston Healthcare’s 24/7 air ambulance program that is staffed with flight nurses, paramedics and pilots, according to HCA Houston Healthcare. The air service allows patients to get to facilities they need in a short time, said Katie Nabors, HCA Houston Healthcare adult team flight nurse.
One of the first AirLife helicopters was based at The Woman’s Hospital of Texas near the Texas Medical Center, Lee said. The decision was made to move a base to Pearland when HCA Houston Healthcare identified the need to add more trauma teams outside of the inner city in Houston, he said.
Since then, HCA Houston Healthcare's AirLife has provided Pearland and the greater southeastern Houston region with a much needed service, Lee said, a sentiment shared by the AirLife crew.
“I think it is an honor to be a part of somebody’s worst day and to be there in the nitty gritty and make their day better and save their lives,” Nabors said.
AirLife has multiple teams, such as a specialty pediatric team that usually focuses on hospital-to-hospital transfers. Another team focuses on trauma responses, which includes deploying to on-scene calls, Nabors said. AirLife has landed in fields, highways, roadways and parking lots. As long as the helicopter has a 100-by-100 foot space, it can land, she said.
AirLife focuses on taking patients to where the service they need is available even if in some cases it is not an HCA Houston Healthcare facility, Lee said. If a patient has a stroke, they need to be taken to a stroke center to save their brain tissue. If it is a heart attack, they need a facility to open up blood vessels, Nabors said.
As HCA Houston Healthcare continues to expand both with its AirLife program and other facilities, the focus continues to be on serving the communities they are in, Lee said.
“When we have scene flights and we make the difference between life and death, we can’t put a price on that,” AirLife pilot Erik Kessler said.
