Driscoll Children’s Hospital and HALO-Flight, Inc. have begun a partnership that will result in an unprecedented level of service for critically ill and injured children of South Texas. Beginning in September, HALO-Flight will dedicate a helicopter exclusively to Driscoll Children’s Hospital. This partnership will significantly reduce the time it takes to transport patients to the hospital.

“The purpose of this partnership is to transport newborns, infants and children with life threatening illnesses and injuries to the hospital as fast as possible,” said Steve Woerner, president and CEO of Driscoll Children’s Hospital.

Helicopters roughly cut transport time in half compared to ambulances, according to Driscoll records. For example, the average transport time by ambulance from a hospital in Brownsville to Driscoll is seven hours. The same trip by helicopter is around three hours.

“By having a dedicated HALO-Flight helicopter, Driscoll will be able to save more lives,” Woerner said. “This is monumental in our mission of providing hope and healing to the children of South Texas.”

Excellent patient care is at the forefront of HALO-Flight’s partnership with Driscoll, said Tom Klassen, HALO-Flight, Inc.’s executive director.

“Our goal is to continue to provide advanced critical care utilizing our premier helicopters and the highly skilled flight crews at Driscoll. HALO-Flight is dedicated to ensuring that the children of South Texas have the opportunity for a better chance at life by receiving air ambulance transports. We are two companies who have been, and will continue to be, serving South Texas residents’ emergent needs.”

Driscoll Children’s Hospital is the only major hospital in South Texas to have this partnership with HALO-Flight, according to Patricia Carr, director of Driscoll’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and Transport Department. The hospital’s service area covers 31 counties and 33,000 square miles, with its level III NICU offering the highest level of care in the area.