Tampa General Hospital in Florida is upgrading its fleet of Aeromed critical care helicopters with the addition of a new Airbus EC145e. Operated by Shreveport, Louisiana's Metro Aviation, the new helicopter provides more cabin space and faster air speeds than the hospital's current primary aircraft.

“This new medical air transport helicopter is an important part of our Aeromed programme and will play a key role in helping us provide potentially lifesaving care to critically ill or injured patients in 23 Florida counties,” says Michele Moran, senior director of emergency services, Tampa General Hospital. “The larger interior means the medical flight crew has better access to care for patients, allows for improved views and communication between the pilot in the cockpit and the crew in the cabin or for a family member to accompany the patient, if appropriate.”

The new EC145e is equipped with Metro's standard medical interior and Genesys Aerosystems' IFR HeliSAS autopilot and stability augmentation system, providing workload reduction for both single and dual pilot operations. The aircraft also has the Outerlink Global Solutions IRIS combined voice, video and flight data recorder system on board. The video function and data monitoring can be used for pilot training, while the flight following, push-to-talk radio and live alerts and warnings allow Metro's operational control centre to monitor the location and condition of the aircraft and verify alerts and conditions in real time.

Tampa General Hospital Aeromed, a part of the Metro Aviation family of operations customers since 2013, transports critically ill or injured patients from 23 counties aboard five BK117 and B407GX aeromedical helicopters that are based in Hillsborough, Highlands, Polk and Charlotte counties. Tampa General Hospital has earned recognition from the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS).