This section is dedicated to answering some common questions about our service, aviation or the air medical industry in general. If you have questions please email us. Thank you again for your time and we hope that find our website a good resource.

ETA is Estimated Time of Arrival. "ETAs are defined as the combined times of the ETE - Estimated Time Enroute (Pre-flight) and flight time that occurs until the aircraft is overhead at the scene of the identified landing zone (LZ)." - EMMCO West Inc.

You can call us (814) 870-1050 and speak with any of our crew members, or email us. Please have available the date, time of the event, contact person, radio contact frequency, coordinates, hazards and obstructions of the designated LZ.

The clock starts at the time of the accident. Pre-hospital providers rapidly assess, intervene and transport the injured patient. Our goal is to have the patient to the trauma center receiving definative care within that hour.

When your facility or organization requests LifeStar, you are not just requesting a helicopter. You are requesting a dedicated team of experienced, certified critical care providers. We provide a high standard of care to your critically ill or injured patient. LifeStar's crew have the knowledge, skills and state of the art equipment and 24/7 online medical command to provide optimal care. In the last 22 years LifeStar has flown over 10,000 patient missions. We are a small program with a strong committment to patient safey and quality care. We value the relationship with you, our customer.

These are examples of advanced certifications in critical care. They are a marker of excellence. Individuals who become certified have prepared for and passed a difficult written exam and typically have at least a couple thousand hours of clinical experience. Clinical expertise, advanced knowledge in critical care and excellent critical thinking skills are required to become certified. In order to maintain certification additional continuing education has to be completed throughout the certification period. One example, the CCRN requires a minimum of 100 hours of continuing education per three year certification period. The additional training/knowledge will translate to better care for the patient. Our standard at LifeStar requires crew members to become certified within the first year of hire.

If you are interested in a challenging but rewarding career and would like to work for a company with 25 years of service to your community, please call (814) 870-1010.

Safety is an inseperable part of LifeStar's mission and operating practices. The pilots are professionally trained weather observers. The pilots are required to analyze every flight request to make sure the the mission can be completed in a safe manner, without undue risk or hazard to the patient and crew onboard. Many meteorlogical conditions preclude LifeStar's ability to accept a flight request. Examples of these are: fog, hail, thunderstorms, in-flight icing, low ceilings, low visibility, windshear and excessive turbulance caused by heavy winds. LifeStar pilots utilize state of the art equipment to make a "go/no-go" decision based on a real-time satalite-feed data. Weather information is obtained from FAA approved sources, provided by the National Weather Service (NWS). Many times, to the untrained eye of a casual observer, the weather may not "appear" to be bad. However, such assumptions cannot be made just by looking out the window. LifeStar pilots look at the weather at the time the flight request is made, as well as the time span of the entire length of the flight. The also consider weather that may be several miles away at the time of the request, but could quickly become a factor during the flight.

You can either call us (814) 870-1054 or email your request. Soon we will be able to offer CPR, ACLS, PALS and ITLS provider/renewal courses. The LifeStar Education Outreach Team is also working on creating critical care presentations. We are working towards compiling a number of continuing education opportunities. When presentations are available, with PA State Con-ed hours, we will post them under our education links. If you would like to see a specific topic please contact us.