Johns Hopkins Lifeline

For more than 30 years, Johns Hopkins Lifeline has provided all types of patient transportation with a specialty in critical care. This hospital-based program, among the first of its kind in the region, was designed to provide advanced life support and critical care services for patients referred or transferred to Johns Hopkins Health System hospitals.

To expedite patient care, we built an integrated delivery system to safely transport these patients to Hopkins. Nearly 40,000 transports are coordinated each year through the Hopkins Communications Center (HopComm): on the ground and in the air.

The Lifeline of Johns Hopkins Providing Patient Care from the Sky

In 2001, the Johns Hopkins Lifeline transportation team expanded its patient care capabilities to include rotor-wing, or helicopter, service through a collaboration with STAT MedEvac. This extended Lifeline’s reach, giving the team the ability to fly to pick up patients and provide Johns Hopkins’ level of care more quickly to patients from their bed side at other hospitals. In 2021, Lifeline celebrated 20 years of its helicopter division’s accomplishments, including more than 10,000 patient flights.

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Celebrating 25 Years

In 2017, the Johns Hopkins Lifeline critical care transportation program and Hopkins Access Line (HAL) celebrated their 25th anniversary. Since their inception in 1992, HAL and Lifeline have worked hand in hand. When a referring physician calls Johns Hopkins to transfer a patient, the call comes into HAL, where a representative coordinates the transfer. This could include connecting the physician with an attending doctor and coordinating with bed management and admitting to ensure that a room is available for the patient. Once a room is available, Hopkins Communication Center, or HopComm, then dispatches a Lifeline transportation crew, whether by ambulance or helicopter, to pick up the patient. Lifeline is now involved in 22,000 air, ground and in-house transports each year. The HAL team currently handles 2,000 calls a week and 900 requests a month for transfers from other hospitals.

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The Lifeline of Johns Hopkins Providing Patient Care from the Sky

Celebrating 25 Years

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