Care Flight: A Pioneer in the West Celebrates 40 Proud Years of Responding “When It Matters Most”

Abstract

Northern Nevada and northeastern California offer some of the world's most breathtaking scenery including the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which is home to Lake Tahoe (the largest Alpine Lake in North America), a dozen ski resorts, and mountains rising more than 14,000 feet covered by dense, inaccessible wilderness forests including Desolation Wilderness and the Pacific Crest Trail. This natural playground offers activities for every season, including snowmobiling, skiing, scuba diving, hiking, biking, rock climbing, and camping. It is home to more than 500,000 residents and attracts over 4 million visitors a year. The vast and remote open desert of Nevada with rolling foothills and rugged terrain is home to wild mustangs, rattle snakes, mule deer, eagles, hawks, and big horn sheep. Rural Nevada is dotted with frontier communities that have limited-capability hospitals and clinics. These towns, along with the region's urban communities are well served by Care Flight, the 35th helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) in the country and the first in the western United States when it began 40 years ago. The pioneering spirit and skilled medical and aviation crews, coupled with a helicopter and aviation technology that allowed them to land almost anywhere, day or night, made Care Flight an invaluable part of critical care transport services throughout the western United States and continues to this day. Temple Fletcher, CCEMTP, CMTE, SMTA, EMS Instructor, Sierra Nevada Critical Incident Stress Management Network and a peer support coordinator. Temple retired from Care Flight after over 30 years of service in management and on the flight line. She is proud to have been raised in an air medical family with high moral values of customer service, patient advocacy, and safety that the original founders instilled in the program and its staff. She would like to acknowledge the following Care Flight alumni for their support and encouragement: Jane Miller, Maggie Tole, Pam Altringer, Sandy Hutton, and Mark Mennie (photographer).