Life Force at Erlanger is ready

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Life Force at Erlanger Health System is in wait and see mode, but they’re ready.

There is one helicopter in Cleveland, two flight nurses, two flight paramedics, a pilot, and a mechanic on standby and ready to help with disaster relief from Hurricane Florence.

Program Director Robbie Tester said when they respond they could be doing a wide range of things.

That includes transporting patients in hospitals who might need to evacuate or are in hospitals impacted by the storm.

“We saw a lot of that in Texas last year where there’s a lot of flooding. So they were evacuating hospitals and then moving people from one part of the state to the next that had medical needs. And since we’re a critical care transport service, we’re looking at those high acuity patients that are maybe depending on a ventilator or have some significant injuries or illnesses that need our specialized care,” Tester said.

Tester said that they responded to Hurricane Harvey last year in Texas.

He said there they helped about 20 people.