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Aero Med celebrates 30 years of life-saving flights

Posted at 9:40 PM, Jun 21, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-21 23:20:08-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- They often save the lives of complete strangers without ever getting to know anything about them.

On Wednesday, though,  some Aero Med crew members got to meet those strangers as the medical flight service celebrated its 30th anniversary at Gerald R. Ford International Airport.

Many times, patients don't remember or get a chance to thank the people who flew in to save their lives.

"Today we actually get to meet them," said Aero Med flight nurse Jessica Whitehead. "That's something we don't get to do. So it's an amazing experience to just see them doing well."

The majority of Aero Med flights are from one hospital to another, and Aero Med is also crucial at transporting patients from car crashes.

"First person flight was in March on 1987," said Tiffany Obetts, director of Aero Med. "We went to Greenville, Michigan, we transported a patient who needed a pace maker."

Aero Med expects to do its 20,000th flight in the next couple of months.