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So Now You Know! – Some folks have recently asked why helicopters are used to transfer patients from hospital to hospital. Ground ambulances are the common hospital transfer method, but sometimes a helicopter is called. Here is a quick example: CareFlite 3 was just dispatched to an interfacility flight (hospital transfer) from Baylor Grapevine to Baylor Dallas. According to Google Maps, that is a 25.2 mile drive that would take 33 minutes to complete. CareFlite 3’s flight from Baylor Grapevine to Baylor Dallas will take around 10 minutes to complete. Plus, with ground transfers, you must factor in construction, possible road closures, accidents, traffic in downtown Dallas and the Airport, etc. So, transferring a patient via helicopter (no matter what company it is) is much faster. In fact with this case, it will take 1/3 of the time to transfer via helicopter compared to ground transfer. And if the patient is family, you’ll want the quickest way possible. So now you know!