Care in the air: DO directs Texas-based air ambulance service

The helicopter touches down gently beside the Texas highway, where mangled car parts are strewn across the asphalt. First responders are attending to the badly injured driver. Ten minutes later, the helicopter’s two-person medical crew has intubated the patient, connected him to IV lines and loaded him into the aircraft for further care. The helicopter lifts off again, speeding toward Memorial Hermann Texas Trauma Institute in Houston.

This is a familiar scene for Joseph Love, DO, a trauma surgeon with UTHealth and medical director of Memorial Hermann Life Flight, a Houston-based medical air transport service. For Dr. Love, serving as medical director of the air ambulance service allows him to use his Air Force experience and further develop his passion for trauma care. Following is an edited interview.

What’s a typical day like in this role?

I spend most of my time creating the protocols that direct how patients are cared for while they’re being transported to the hospital, and making sure the crews are meeting medical expectations. I’m in charge of training and continuing education for our crews as well. We do a lot of simulations and time in the cadaver lab.

Our flight program is very busy—we do between 250 and 300 flights a month with a flight crew that typically consists of a nurse, a paramedic and a pilot. I get to fly with the crews so I understand the environment they’re operating in, which is a critical perspective to have as I’m developing protocols.

What happens when flight crews respond to an emergency?

We’re usually called to the scene by first responders who are already on the ground. We have a fleet of six Eurocopter EC145s, so we can fly anywhere within about a 150-mile radius of Houston.

When we arrive, we’re on the ground for 8 or 9 minutes starting the IV, doing the intubation and moving the patient into the aircraft. Our average transport time back to the hospital is only about 20 minutes, whereas a trip by ambulance could take 45 to 90 minutes depending on traffic.

In flight, we can administer blood products or perform an ultrasound if needed, so we’re starting the patient’s care in a trauma setting immediately—it’s like bringing the hospital’s trauma bay to the field.

Not all of what we do is blood and guts; we sometimes transport people who’ve had a heart attack, or stroke patients who need to be moved from outlying facilities to larger medical centers. About once a month, we also use planes to transport patients internationally, usually from Mexico or the Caribbean back to Texas. We’re truly an extension of the hospital from the standpoint of bringing care to those patients most in need.

What advice would you give medical students or DOs who would like to be in your shoes one day?

I served in the Air Force before assuming my current role, which gave me a lot of relevant experience and street credibility. I was deployed to Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012, where I was part of a military trauma team caring for injured service personnel from the Air Force, Navy and Marines.

Military service isn’t for everyone, though, particularly if deployment doesn’t interest you. I’m not a pilot, and there are no flight requirement for my current role. Most of my colleagues got their training in the civilian world by taking courses or completing fellowships in acute care.

As a trauma surgeon, you have the opportunity to be there for patients during their most devastating moments when everything has fallen apart. It’s a time commitment and a lifestyle commitment, but it’s such a rewarding career. I can’t imagine doing anything else.