Saving the minutes that really matter
St. Luke’s is a member-owner of
Life Link III, a non-profit organization providing emergency helicopter and airplane
transportation for patients requiring critical care.
When someone suffers a traumatic injury, every minute matters in providing
the specialized care they need. That’s why it’s so important
that Life Link III’s helicopter service is available 24 hours a
day, 365 days a year, providing on-scene emergency response and inter-facility
transport. By strategically locating its aircraft throughout Minnesota
and western Wisconsin, Life Link III is able to decrease the time it takes
to transport patients to St. Luke’s from accident sites or other
hospitals.
Life Link III’s clinicians have years of hospital intensive care,
emergency department or 911 experience to bring to patient care. With
access to the latest on-board medical technology, Life Link III’s
clinical staff are able to monitor and treat critically ill or injured
patients, including:
- Multi-system trauma patients
- Spinal cord injury/neurological patients
- Head injury patients
- High risk obstetric patients
- Newborn intensive care patients
- Cardiac, pulmonary and internal medicine patients
- Burn patients
- Limb reattachment patients
- Transplant patients
- Pediatric trauma and medical patients
Life Link III’s transportation services are accredited by CAMTS (Commission
on Accreditation of Medical Transportation Services), ensuring the highest
standards of quality and safety are met on every transport. Life Link
III was established in 1985 as one of the first non-profit consortiums
in the country to transport critically ill patients by helicopter. St.
Luke’s joined the Consortium in 2008 and is one of nine member-owner
organizations that share this important critical care emergency service
for our region.