AirLink

Safely bringing you to care by air when minutes count.

AirLink medical helicopters are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to transport critical and injured patients from other facilities or transfer patients from scene-to-hospital. AirLink helicopters are licensed to operate in North and South Carolina. Our AirLink partner, Apollo, provides aircrafts, pilots and service mechanics.

About Novant Health AirLink helicopters

Novant Health AirLink medical helicopters are located throughout southeastern North Carolina to transport you to a nearby medical facility when you experience a time-sensitive emergency like a spinal injury or serious burn. Our locations:

Albert Ellis Airport in Richlands, NC
Columbus Regional Healthcare System in Whiteville, NC
Novant Health Brunswick Novant Center in Bolivia, NC
Novant Health Rowan Medical Center in Salisbury, NC

AirLink operates under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) with twin-engine Airbus 135 and 145 helicopters capable of flying at speeds of up to 136 knots.

In the coastal region, AirLink provides air medical transport to New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender, Sampson, Clinton, Bladen, Robeson, Onslow, Carteret, Duplin, Jones and Lenoir counties. In central region, AirLink provides air medical services to Rowan, Davidson, Davie, Iredell, Forsyth, Yadkin, Surry, Stokes, Randolph, Stanly, Montgomery, and Cabarrus counties. AirLink also covers Horry, Georgetown and Florence counties in South Carolina.

Training & Education

Novant Health AirLink & VitaLink offers a variety of public outreach and clinical continuing education courses available through our outreach and education teams. If you are interested in training or educational opportunities, please call (910) 667-8973.

Professional medical education

As an approved continuing education provider through the North Carolina office of EMS, our VitaLink team offers continuing medical education courses for prehospital and hospital-based healthcare professionals. Nursing credit is available for a specific course through Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center and the South East Area Health Education Center (SEAHEC).

Safety and helicopter operations

Aircraft Landing Zone Course (2- to 3-hour course with helicopter)
Managing Morbidly Obese Patients
Crew Resource Management: A Ground EMS Perspective
Streamlining Helicopter Transports (appropriate utilization)

Airway and breathing

Difficult Airway Management Workshop (6-hour hands-on program)
Utilization of CPAP
Reacting to the Lost Advanced Airway
Implementing a “Time Out” During Intubation

Cardiovascular emergencies

STEMI Academy (7-hour program)
STEMI Imposters
Heart Failure
Pathophysiology of Common Cardiac Diseases

Pediatric

Pediatric Assessment
Pediatric Respiratory Distress
The Apparent Life-Threatening Event (ALTE)

Trauma

Case Studies in Rural Trauma
Unstable Musculoskeletal Injuries
Pediatric Spine Injury
Prehospital Trauma Life Support®
Cold Emergencies
Trauma Nursing Core Course®

Neurologic

Acute Ischemic Stroke Care
Use of the MEND Exam and RACE Score
Neurosurgical Emergencies
Advanced Stroke Life Support®

General medical

Complications from Chronic Kidney Disease
Recognizing & Managing Sepsis and Septic Shock
Prehospital Antibiotic Administration

Landing zone classes

AirLink/VitaLink provides our regional partners (fire and EMS) with our online landing zone class. One of our crew members will provide a one-hour landing zone presentation and question-and-answer session at your location. This is followed by an aircraft session. At the landing zone we request aircraft through our communications center. We then set up the landing zone and review the safety aspects. Once the aircraft lands and the crew disembark, they will begin the next session.

Public events

AirLink/VitaLink offers help with public events. We can provide any level of transportation from aircraft to a critical care transport (CCT) unit as well as a basic life support/intermediate life support (BLS/ILS) unit.

If you are interested in having a landing zone class or would like us to attend a public event, please call us.

Ride-along program

If you are considering a career in critical care transport, you may want to experience a day with a critical care transport provider in our ride-along program.

We offer 12-hour shifts on one of our ambulances or helicopters for anyone engaged in emergency public services and hospital-based patient care. Weight restrictions apply for AirLink ride-along experiences.

Transport and care for time-sensitive medical needs

You or a loved one may need air medical transport if you experience an emergency or need to be moved to another facility. Novant Health AirLink helicopters provide care during transport and may be used when a ground ambulance is unavailable. Emergency conditions requiring air medical transport include:

Multi-system trauma
Severe traumatic brain injury
Spinal cord injury
High-risk obstetrical emergencies
Acute pediatric illnesses
Respiratory failure
Patients requiring transport directly to an ICU or operating room.
Acute stroke including potential need for thrombectomy
Non-traumatic head bleed
Severe sepsis/septic shock
Limb reattachment
Ischemic body region (limb, bowel, etc.)
Vascular emergencies (dissection, aneurysm, occlusions)
Post cardiac arrest
ST Segment myocardial infarction
Shock

Equipped for your critical care needs

Novant Health AirLink helicopters are equipped to handle critical patients during transport. Each AirLink helicopter offers:

Whole blood
EPOC Point of Care Lab Testing
Advanced ventilator management
Non-invasive positive pressure ventilations (BiPAP)
High flow nasal cannula
Video laryngoscopy
Escharotomy
Cardiac monitoring with 12-lead ECG
Cardioversion and pacing
Vasoactive drug therapy
Antibiotics
Intracranial pressure monitoring
Invasive line monitoring
Advanced pharmacologic support including more than 80 drugs

Nationally Recognized for Safety & Care

Over the years, Novant Health AirLink & VitaLink critical care transport and EMS services have earned recognition for our safety, operational, and patient care efforts, including annual recognition from Mission: Lifeline EMS since 2014. Recent recognition includes:

Gold Plus Recognition from Mission: Lifeline EMS, 2017-2024
Achievement of the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems, accreditation (CAMTS)
College of American Pathologists, accreditation (CAP)

A Novant Health team member is sitting at her workstation on the computer while others are printing copies and on phone calls.

Request Community Education

Our team of safety experts from the Novant Health AirLink and VitaLink teams can participate in your group event or public safety activity in New Hanover County. Upon availability, we participate in public events including: 

Community CPR (Hands Only CPR) training 
Stop the Bleed™ training 
Career days (critical care/flight medical professionals and helicopter pilots) 
Touch a Truck 
Public gatherings (festivals, picnics, fundraisers) 
Parades

To request our participation, call: (910) 667-8973.