When is MedFlight Called Into Action?

When a Holliston woman needed urgent care on Tuesday, fire crews called Boston's MedFlight service, a helicopter ambulance capable of getting patients to a trauma center in under 10 minutes. 

The 49 year-old woman had suffered previous injuries from a fall before she was airlifted to a Boston trauma center on Tuesday, Holliston Fire Chief Michael Cassidy said. l who arrived at her home determined her condition was serious enough to warrant a MedFlight.

A helicopter landed on Central Street to pick up the patient at one of Holliston's six predetermined landing zones. 

It would take Holliston's ambulances more than 30 minutes to reach Boston's trauma center, but MedFlight can reach the same destination in a third of the time, Cassidy said. 

MedFlight protocols stipulate a variety of medical conditions that warrant an airlift, including weak vitals, burns and head injury. 

"We typically make about six MedFlight calls per year," Cassidy said.