AirCare is the aeromedical critical care transport service of the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMC). The helicopter is used for transferring critically ill and injured patients within the state of Mississippi to the University Medical Center in Jackson or the Mississippi Firefighters Memorial Burn Center in Greenville.
Mississippi is primarily a rural state, with Jackson serving as the capital and largest metropolitan area. The University of Mississippi Medical Center offers a full range of medical specialty services including high-risk obstetrics, medical toxicology, interventional cardiology, and interventional MRI. UMC is the state's only Level 1 trauma center and Level 3(top rated) neonatal ICU. AirCare serves as a link between UMC and other Mississippi hospitals, making the unique resources of UMC more readily accessible to physicians and patients throughout the state.
AirCare provides hospital to hospital transfers at the request of a physician. Under certain criteria (Revised Trauma Score of 11 or less) a paramedic may request AirCare to meet the patient at the nearest hospital. All transfers must comply with federal patient transfer laws. The helicopter may also be used in cases of mass casualty incidents, which overwhelm existing ground EMS services. With the exception of mass casualty events AirCare does not do scene landings.
A toll free number ( 1-888-UMC-2345 ) is available for physicians wishing to transfer patients to UMC. Staff physicians are available to discuss referrals 24 hours a day. The decision to use AirCare for patient transport will be made by the receiving physician in conjunction with the requesting physician and will depend on the patient's condition and location. Transfers to the Mississippi Firefighters Memorial Burn Center in Greenville must first be accepted by a physician at the burn center prior to requesting AirCare transport.
AirCare averages 70 flights a month. Due to wide spread acceptance of the program by hospitals and physicians, and the need for providing critical care access to many rural areas of the state, the flight volume has exceeded expectations and over 4,500 patients have been transported since 1996.
Any questions concerning the AirCare program should be directed to the chief flight nurse/program director, Donna Norris at (601) 984-5646 or dnorris@emergmed.umsmed.edu or Mark Galtelli, NREMT-P, FP-C (601) 815-1775 or mgaltelli@emergmed.umsmed.edu.
Written inquiries can be sent to:
The University of Mississippi Medical Center
Helicopter Transport Department, AirCare
2500 North State Street
Jackson, MS 39216-4505