Erlanger celebrates Life Force years of service on Wednesday

CHATTANOOGA,Tenn. (WDEF)- Erlanger celebrated the Life Force Flight Program of the Year Award and 35 Years of Service with a ceremony Wednesday.

 “To be recognized from across the country, some really outstanding programs to see life force and Erlanger at the top of that list is very exciting,” said Robbie Tester, Vice President of Patient Logistics at Erlanger

 Erlanger’s Life Force is an air ambulance service covering the greater Chattanooga area since 1988.  

 Over the years, Life force has transported patients to Erlanger Hospital from 4 different states.. 

 Erlanger CEO, Jim Coleman believes having Life Force in the community is a big deal. 

“To 370 air medical programs throughout the United States and to be designated as the best in 2024 that’s a pretty big deal. So we wanted to recognize how big a deal it was by having a great event today,” said Coleman. 

 According to Erlanger, the Life Force Aircraft grew from 1 helicopter to a total of six over the last 30 years. 

Tester says, the aircraft provides rapid care to adults and children. 

“We will complete a little over 3000 flights every year. We get about 5000 requests for service. But not all of those materialize. About 80% of those are adult patients and the other are children, and we do about a 50/50, mix between medical emergencies and trauma.” said Tester. 

In the case of critical care, Erlanger says it’s important to help those in need. 

Coleman is hopeful to see Life Force grow in years to come. 

“Seeing the growth of Life Force is just showing the growth in this community and having high quality access to services on a really quick basis when needed, is special. And there is a huge impact on not just the quality of life with quality of health and for our whole region,” said Coleman.