REMSA Health Care Flight is partnering with two healthcare aviation service providers; Air Methods will be the vendor for the maintenance and pilot staffing of the programme'’s four Airbus H125 air ambulances, while Life Flight Network will be the vendor for the maintenance and pilot staffing of its fixed-wing aircraft. Care Flight will continue to provide clinical staffing on both air platforms.

“Our organisation looks forward to partnering with Air Methods and Life Flight Network, two organisations that are committed to safety and clinical excellence for the benefit of patient care,” says president and CEO Barry Duplantis. “Care Flight is a vital part of our area’s healthcare ecosystem, particularly in rural communities. The relationships with Air Methods and Life Flight Network are an important part of ensuring people across the region can access critical care medical transport when it matters most.”

“Together with REMSA Health, we will ensure that we operate with the highest standards of safety, efficiency and reliability,” says Air Methods CEO JaeLynn Williams. “Given our expertise in fuel contract management, coupled with our team of tenured, highly experienced pilots who are familiar with the geography and a spare aircraft dedicated to REMSA Health, we aim to optimise operations and provide unparalleled reliability and readiness, ensuring that every call for service is met with steadfast response.”

Life Flight CEO Ben Clayton adds: “With a longstanding history of collaboration between our organisations, this partnership stands as a testament to our shared commitment to delivering critical air medical services to the people who need us most. Keeping patients at the centre of our mission, we look forward to working side-by-side with the incredible care providers at Care Flight as we extend our lifesaving aviation resources to its Reno, Nevada base and the communities beyond.”

Before becoming fully operational, Air Methods and Life Flight completed aircraft safety reviews, pilot training and crew familiarisation flights with Care Flight personnel.

Prior to this change, Med-Trans was Care Flight’s rotor wing aviation vendor, and Guardian Flight was its fixed wing aviation vendor. Both are subsidiaries of Global Medical Response (GMR). REMSA Health opted to switch vendors after GMR notified Care Flight that it would be increasing costs outside of its existing contract. Since arbitrarily raising costs as GMR proposed is counter to REMSA Health's non-profit mission, it issued a Request for Information from alternate air ambulance operators. After a thorough review process, Air Methods and Life Flight Network were chosen. All mechanics and pilots who were with the Care Flight programme at the time the announcement was made have opted to continue working with Care Flight, thereby transferring their employment to Life Flight Network and Air Methods.

"We are confident about a smooth transition into these partnerships," says Duplantis. "Patient care and requestor experience will be seamless. Care Flight remains committed to facilitating the closest air asset, regardless of which programme it serves, because it is the right thing to do for patient care."