CareFlite helicopter and crew to swoop in Nov. 4

November 2, 2016

By Betsy Friauf

 

When a CareFlite helicopter lands at the Health Science Center on Friday, Nov. 4, it’s not an emergency but an informal training session.

The chopper fly-in is an annual opportunity for students to get up close with airborne emergency transport.

Every minute and a half, somewhere in the U.S. a med-evac helicopter is dispatched. To help prepare future health professionals who are training at UNTHSC, a medical students’ organization called the Emergency Medicine Interest Group arranges the chopper fly-in.

Weather permitting, the helicopter will touch down on the north lawn of the Medical Education and Training Building, 1000 Montgomery St., at noon on Friday, Nov. 4. It will take off again at 1 p.m.

Everyone on campus is invited to this informal training event. Students from UNTHSC’s five schools are invited to gather on the lawn for a brief talk by CareFlite Medical Director Robert Simonson, DO, a 1982 graduate of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. Simonson and the flight crew will demonstrate their critical-care equipment, assist students in touring the helicopter’s interior and answer questions. The event furthers the development of interprofessional teamwork among the various specializations that are essential to quality care in emergency medicine. This type of interdisciplinary work supports a key UNTHSC value, collaboration.