Campus Life

Life Lion celebrates 25 years of saving lives

In 1986, Penn State Hershey Medical Center established Penn State Hershey Life Lion Critical Care Transport. Since its inception, the service has transported more than 27,000 patients. Flight paramedic Paul R. Matter Jr., emergency medical technician - paramedic, who has been with the program since day one, remembers those early years as being both challenging and rewarding.

“We went into service in December with one helicopter,” Matter recalled. “That first month we responded to 19 calls.” The three-member emergency flight crew -- including a registered nurse, a paramedic and a pilot -- departed from a landing pad outside the emergency room.

“Back in those days, we were only a single pilot using visual reference, so we were limited by the weather we could fly in, and also by the amount of technology we could bring out in the field,” Matter said. “But we’ve always had a passion for doing the best for the patient, working with other institutions, and staying abreast of the latest and greatest technology. That continuity of care has been a steady force."

Read more about Life Lion’s 25th anniversary at http://goo.gl/AERpK -- and sign up to receive regular updates from Penn State Medicine at http://pennstatemedicine.org/ online.

A Life Lion helicopter on the landing pad at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated November 2, 2011

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