Angel MedFlight Explains Air Medical Transfers
Just 13 days after sustaining a gunshot wound to the forehead, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is being transferred from University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz. to TIRR (The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research) Memorial Hermann in Houston to begin the next phase of her recovery.
Matt Greenwell, Chief Flight Nurse at Angel MedFlight, spoke with Phoenix’s FOX 10 News about medical flights.
(Click here to watch the interview)
The congresswoman will be flown the 1,000+ miles from Tucson to Houston in an air ambulance, a jet specifically outfitted for medical purposes, equipped with a stretcher and medical supplies and technologies for providing care to critically ill or injured patients. A medical staff will accompany Giffords to provide in-flight care.
Inside an air ambulance
Once Giffords arrives at TIRR, a rehabilitation facility renowned for its treatment of traumatic brain injuries, she will undergo evaluation by her new team of caregivers, including physicians and therapists. Typical therapy components include speech, occupational (daily living activities) and physical (coordination and endurance). Rest is also essential to recovery, as brain injury patients commonly experience mental and physical fatigue.
