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March 21, 2011 -
Building on its commitment to safety and
quality, Omniflight Helicopters, Inc., a leading
national provider of air medical services, has completed
Level 1 of the Federal Aviation Administration's Safety
Management System (SMS) program and has now started on
Level 2. Omniflight announced its achievement, calling its SMS participation a natural extension of its "true safety-first culture." The company, which operates some 100 rotor and fixed-wing aircraft nationally, from 77 bases in 18 states, completed the first phase in just seven months. Omniflight said the SMS program is helping to build on its existing proactive safety efforts. |
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"We have
had proactive safety programs in place for years," said Tom
Leverton, Chief Executive Officer of Omniflight. "Among them is
the use of night vision goggles for our helicopter pilots in
most of our operations. We have also worked hard to train our
flight crews to the highest standards.
We see involvement in the FAA's SMS program as one more
opportunity to further improve our safety and quality and
demonstrate our commitment to our customers."
In the
areas where it has base operations, such as the Southwest,
Midwest, and Southeast, Omniflight operates under its own name
as well as through affiliated brands such as Native Air,
LifeSaver, LifeStar,
The first
level of SMS participation was a tremendously positive
experience for all of Omniflight's aviation, technical,
clinical, and administrative personnel.
The Level 1 assessment of safety and quality, spanning
the entire company, helped Omniflight develop plans and
strategies for improvement.
As
Omniflight moves through the Level 2 phase of the SMS program
throughout 2011, it will implement educational plans and program
enhancements, involving all of the company's hundreds of
employees. The process includes validation of the effectiveness
of all of Omniflight's systems, improving communications, and
refining its problem solving. "SMS drives us to ensure that all of our safety programs are fully integrated with our clinical group, to the point of sharing operational and technical details and weaving all of our functions together, with a more effective communications flow," Leverton said. |
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