UT LIFESTAR celebrates 40 years of serving East Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — On Thursday, UT LIFESTAR hosted an event celebrating the impact it has made in the community over the last 40 years.

The organization airlifted its first patient on October 1, 1984, and since then, it has transported more than 50,000 patients. UT LIFESTAR was founded through the vision of Dr. Robert F. Lash.

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The event was attended by many, including leaders within the company and some of the members from the first flight crew. UT LIFESTAR Director Matthew Owens shared with 6 News how the organization has changed East Tennessee's approach to medical care.

"[In] 1984, the concept of air medical operations was really pretty unheard of. There were a few programs that predate that across the country, but not very many. It was mostly reliant on military support for those occasions when you needed to pull someone out of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by helicopter," Owens said. "And so Dr. Lash in 1984, leading up to 1984, actually had the idea to bring a program like that to UT Medical Center and have it served in the civilian capacity, and that was really where this program evolved from."

He shared that there are only a handful of legacy programs in the United States that have as extensive of a history as UT LIFESTAR.

Over the years, the organization has grown from a single aircraft with a team of 15 to a more comprehensive service with five aircrafts operating out of five bases and more than 70 medical center team members. UT LIFESTAR also has 26 employees through its aviation partner, the Med-Trans Corporation.

Looking forward, Owens said that UT LIFESTAR is looking to use it's current success as a catalyst for the future. In addition to working with Med-Trans to utilize the latest and greatest aircrafts in helicopter aviation, Owens shared that they have also begun their next chapter with several new individuals stepping into leadership roles. Previously, Owens was a fight paramedic for UT LIFESTAR for 15 years, and then recently stepped into the role as director for the organization.

"We have no interest in not being part of serving this community, helping bring calm to chaos and helping bring skill and care and compassion to people's most tragic moments, " Owens said. "From mechanics to pilots, to nurses and paramedics, Our communications specialists in our comm. center, [it's] just amazing the number of people who have dedicated their lives to this career."