LifeFlight Eagle is a 501(c3) non-profit organization that provides life-saving helicopter transport for critically ill and injured patients in Kansas and Missouri communities surrounding Kansas City.

Our roots date back to 1978, when Saint Joseph Hospital in Kansas City launched the Spirit of Saint Joseph LifeFlight program, which was the fifth civilian helicopter ambulance program in the country (learn about LifeFlight Eagle's history).

The LifeFlight Eagle system now includes four helicopters based in Chillicothe, Odessa, Clinton and Harrisonville, Mo., as well as an additional helicopter dedicated to the Children's Mercy Critical Care Transport Team in Kansas City, which is specially designed and staffed to serve our neonatal and pediatric patients, and now expectant mothers.

All of LifeFlight Eagle's bases are staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with a pilot, flight nurse and flight paramedic. Our aircraft are operated and maintained by PHI Air Medical, a partner that sets the bar for quality and safety in the air-medical industry.

Throughout our history, LifeFlight Eagle has focused on five key principles that guide our operations and decision-making. They include safety, employee engagement, customer engagement, delivering on promises and public stewardship. Staying true to these principles has allowed LifeFlight Eagle to establish ourself as a quality-driven organization and an industry leader that is committed to providing the best quality service to our communities.

Safety

Safety is at the root of everything LifeFlight Eagle does. From our safety culture that permeates every level of the organization, to our robust safety management system, specialized equipment, extensive crew training, industry leading Safety Symposium and outreach education for hospitals and first responders, LifeFlight Eagle invests heavily to ensure every flight is completed safely and that every patient arrives safely to the care they need. Learn more about our Safety Culture.

Employee Engagement

LifeFlight Eagle is fortunate to employ the best of the best. Our highly trained, highly experienced flight nurses and flight paramedics provide compassionate critical care to patients on the worst days of their lives. Through ongoing education, simulations, drills and training, our medical crews are ready for any situation. Learn more about what it takes to be a flight nurse or flight paramedic. 

Our medical teams are supported by highly experienced pilots who are required to have far more experience than the industry average, and NAACS-certified communications specialists, who coordinate flight requests, manage communications and monitor safety. All together, our team is second to none.

Customer Engagement

LifeFlight Eagle engages continually with referring fire and EMS agencies and hospitals, as well as receiving hospitals to evaluate and improve the quality of care that we together provide patients. We engage our customers through ongoing outreach, quality assurance efforts, and outreach education courses.

Delivering on our promises

As the only non-profit helicopter ambulance program in Western and Central Missouri, LifeFlight Eagle doesn't report to stockholders and Wall Street investors--we report to you. LifeFlight Eagle is committed to stability and sustainability in our operations. As other for-profit companies quickly set up, then close operations, LifeFlight Eagle takes a carefully measured approach geared to providing the community with quality critical care transport for years to come. Through fiscal responsibility and continual evaluation of the needs of the communities we serve, we are committed to being here for you and your family, and committed to safely delivering every patient to the care they need every time.  

Community stewardship

LifeFlight Eagle reinvests in the communities we serve in many different ways, including helping to improve the quality of care available in each community. LifeFlight Eagle partners with local fire departments, EMS agencies and hospitals to offer continuing education courses to their staffs that both help them maintain their certifications, and introduce new life-saving techniques and methods. We also partner to conduct numerous mock drills each year that give us all the opportunity to practice critical skills and then learn from the debrief how we can collectively improve.

We also engage in numerous community education events, from docudramas that discourage teenagers from distracted and impaired driving to community health fairs and community service projects.

LifeFlight Eagle is more than an air-ambulance company. We're a non-profit community partner that is here for the community and here to stay.