LIFE STARS important events over the past 12 years.
Special thanks to Flight RT's Janet Libera, and Deborah Picard for providing me with this up-to-date information.
June 17, 1985 - Hartford Hospital went on-line with the first and only air ambulance in the state of Connecticut, LIFE STAR. The first crew consisted of nine flight nurses, three pilots, fourteen respiratory therapists, and one full time mechanic. Several Hartford Hospital emergency room physicians flew in the programs infancy.
June 18, 1985 - LIFE STAR receives its first call, a Code 100 (scene response) to the Town of Canton, Connecticut. The decade of aeromedical service begins. To date LIFE STAR has received nearly 15,000 requests for service, 5,900 of them being scene responses.
July 3, 1985 - LIFE STAR completes its first two-patient scene call in the Town of Tolland, Connecticut. As of January 1, 1998 the helicopter has completed 331 two-patient calls.
September 30, 1986 - The Communications Center for LIFE STAR receives what will turn out to be the longest flight completed by our service. LIFE STAR flies to Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec. The patient is brought back to Hartford Hospital. The total distance is 462 nautical miles, round trip!
December 7, 1986 - LIFE STAR receives its 1000th request for service, a scene call to Suffield, Connecticut.
August 8, 1989 - LIFE STAR moves to the new rooftop helipad atop the Bliss Wing at Hartford Hospital. The new helipad is the largest in New England, and one of the largest in the country. Four helicopters can be accomodated on the helipad, with space for two more aircraft inside the rooftop hangar.
June 19, 1990 - The Connecticut Commission of Hospitals and Health Care approves the application by Hartford Hospital to expand to a two helicopter program.
July 9, 1990 - LIFE STAR II is added to improve service throughout the state. With the addition of a second aircraft, the flight crew was doubled, and a second full time mechanic was hired.
July 13, 1989 - LIFE STAR I and LIFE STAR II complete their first two helicopter call to the town of Moosup, Connecticut. As of January 1, 1998 the LIFE STAR program has completed 216 two-ship responses.
September 18, 1990 - The LIFE STAR program receives its 5000th request for service. The call is a cardiac transfer from Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam, Connecticut, to St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center, Hartford, Connecticut.
October 25, 1990 - The rooftop helipad is formally dedicated. It was named to honor Mr. John Springer, the President and CEO of Connecticut Health Systems, Inc. , and former President of Hartford Hospital.
June 20, 1992 - The LIFE STAR program suffers a great loss when LIFE STAR I has an accident and crashes enroute to a accident scene in Meriden, Connecticut. The accident fatally injured Flight Nurse Jennifer Hodges, and critically injured two other flight crew members.
September 1992 - The LIFE STAR program receives a new permanent replacement helicopter for LIFE STAR I. A new paint scheme is designed by one of the Communication Specialists, Tracy O'Connell, and is implemented onto both helicopters, mirroring each other. Both helicopters are also outfitted with a "NIGHT SUN". These are lights mounted outside the helicopter capable of generating 30 million candlepower of illumination.
July 20, 1994 - The LIFE STAR program receives its 10,000th request for service. The call is for a transfer from Backus Hospital in Norwich, Connecticut to Hartford Hospital.
November 1, 1994 - Crew members move into the future and start wearing personal protective gear. In an effort to futher inhance safety, the crew members now wear Nomex flight suits, leather boots, and Kevlar flight helmets with built in communications equipment.
February 1995 - LIFE STAR aquired a new piece of medical equipment and begins utilizing a portable transport ventilator. This ventilator will be used for critical care transfers on interfacility missions.
March 28, 1996 - LIFE STAR receives its first request for an intra-aortic balloon pump transfer, but is unable to do the mission due to weather.
September 6, 1996 - The first intra-aortic balloon pump transfer is completed from Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., to the cardiothoracic intensive care unit at Hartford Hospital.
July 1997 - The LIFE STAR program begins to utilize a new computerized dispatch program, for tracking the aircraft, patient charting, and billing. This new AeroMed Software is remotely accessible from other hospitals using laptop computers.