The hospital’s Critical Care Transport team recently added a new, state-of-the-art helicopter thanks to donations from the Monday Morning Quarterback Club.
Published: October 23, 2021
Children’s of Alabama has enhanced its ability to help sick children get the care they need. The hospital’s Critical Care Transport team recently added a new, state-of-the-art helicopter thanks to donations from the Monday Morning Quarterback Club.
The helicopter, an Airbus H145, replaces the team’s previous helicopter, which had been in use since 2012. Jason Peterson, director of the Critical Care Transport team, says the new helicopter will help the team serve patients more effectively.
The Children’s Critical Care Transport team has been around since 1983, transporting critically ill and injured children between medical facilities across the state and beyond. Whenever a child needs a level of care beyond what’s offered in their area, the team transports them to a facility that offers that level of care. The team’s vehicles – ambulances, the helicopter and air medical jet – are essentially mobile emergency rooms, equipped with the technology necessary to care for the child during that trip. The technology in the new helicopter is even more sophisticated than what was in the previous helicopter.
“In the state of Alabama, it’s one of a kind,” Peterson says. “Currently, it is the only aircraft of this model in the state. It is one of the most advanced technological aircrafts in the state.”
Among the technological features in the new helicopter are enhanced terrain avoidance systems, weather radar and more. These make it possible for the crews to travel in Instrument Flight Rule conditions – something they previously could not do, being restricted to Visual Flight Rules through the Federal Aviation Administration. Now, the team can transport patients even when the weather is not totally clear.
The helicopter is named QB1 after the Monday Morning Quarterback Club in recognition of the club’s fundraising efforts which made it possible for Children’s of Alabama to get the helicopter.
“It’s very impactful,” Monday Morning Quarterback Club board member Jeff Stone says. “Our club is all about supporting the medical needs of children in our community any way we can, and I can’t think of a better way of doing it than through this helicopter.”
The operation of the helicopter is possible through a partnership between Children’s and Med-Trans Corporation, part of the Global Medical Response family of companies. Med-Trans provides all pilots, mechanics and other operation logistics for Children’s to use the new helicopter.