Medflight History
Midwest Medflight opened in September of 1986. Since the beginning, we have been based at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. Medflight is a consortium with representatives from St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and Detroit Medical Center.
We began with a Bell 206 L1, supplied by Pumpkin Air. Our pilots and our mechanic icon, Mario, were also provided by Pumpkin. Our crew configuration consisted of a physician and a nurse. We also offered a fixed-wing program for longer interstate transfers. Briefly, starting in the spring of 1987, we had a second Bell 206 based in Midland.
In 1992, Medflight contracted with Metro Aviation, and began flying an Augusta 109 Mk II. This twin-engine aircraft allowed us much more versatility and speed over the single-engine Bell 206. We proudly received full accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems in 1992, and have been accredited since then.
In the fall of 1998, Medflight contracted with Fitch and Associates, a consulting firm from Kansas City in our continuing efforts to improve our service. We also changed helicopter vendors, beginning our current and exciting relationship with Petroleum Helicopters Incorporated. This world-class company provides us with our pilots, mechanics and our current aircraft, the BK 117 A4. We discontinued our fixed-wing program at this time to focus our strength and energy on our rotor-wing program.
In the summer of 1999, Medflight switched our staffing configuration from nurse/physician to nurse/paramedic, and have never been stronger. The strengths and backgrounds provided by each have formed a critical care team that is second to none. Our scene and ground times have become precious commodities to the organizations we work with, and we work diligently to grow and improve constantly. Our team is comprised of hard-working, dedicated individuals that are proud to represent our service.
Our original cast, Medical Director John Baselle, M.D., Program Director Jan Kennedy and Chief Flight Nurse Kathy Swedner got our program off the ground. Our current cast, Medical Director Robert Domeier, M.D. and Program Director Judy Kettenstock are sending us soaring into the future!