Life Force celebrates 30th anniversary at Erlanger

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – This year, Life Force Air Medical celebrates it’s 30th year of serving the tri-state region.

A pair of 30 year veterans of the service were on hand today to talk about their years with Life Force.

Erlanger transported their first patient via helicopter on December 20th, 1988, and the service has grown dramatically since then.

Not only has the life saving technology advanced in those years, but with additional units and crews, the volume of flights has increased as well.

30 year paramedic Jim Fox tells us “We’ve seen a lot of changes since then. Now we’re up to six helicopters and we’ve got them spread throughout the region in three states, and servicing four states and it’s been a good ride for the last 30 years, it’s been amazing.”

Life Force typically makes 2600 patient flights a year.

They don’t just handle trauma patients anymore.

Now they also treat heart attack and stroke victims as well.