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Flight For Life transporting dozens of COVID-19 patients through pandemic

Many of the patients have been transported from small, rural hospitals to bigger cities with more resources.

COLORADO, USA — April is usually filled with ski accidents and car crashes for crews at Flight For Life. 

This April is different.

As COVID-19 patients continue to pour into emergency rooms, many need to be transported to bigger hospitals with more resources. For some, the best way to do that is through the air or on the ground in a critical care ambulance.

In the past month, Flight for Life has transported dozens of patients infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. It’s become their new normal. 

"This is totally different. This is an entirely new world. The challenges are significant," said Kathleen Mayer, program director with Flight For Life. "Those transports are exponentially more complicated than our regular transports. We’re having to be in full PPE (personal protective equipment) which can be not only cumbersome but also tiring."

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By plane, by helicopter and by ambulance, Flight for Life has focused on critical care transport. Crews are taking patients in need of more treatment from small rural hospitals that can easily be overrun to bigger cities with more resources.

As they travel, patients can be hooked up to a ventilator if needed. They’ve found lower altitudes can help with the recovery.

"A single coronavirus infected patient or one who is symptomatic can tie up tremendous resources at a small rural hospital to the point where it is difficult for them to take care of their regular patient population," said Mayer. "In our patients that we’re transporting out of the mountains down to Denver, we are seeing as we drop in altitude some improvements in their status."

In an April unlike any other, Flight for Life flies through the pandemic.  

But don’t think that people aren’t still hurting themselves in the Colorado high country. Flight for Life said they’ve done several backcountry rescues recently, but far less than usual.

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