A Century of Emergency Care Milestones

Perhaps no other aspect of medical care has changed quite so dramatically through the years as that of emergency care. Just think, patients were brought to the hospital by horse-drawn ambulance 100 years ago! Today, emergency transport options at Lutheran Hospital are not just limited to ambulance, but include our mobile intensive care units (MoICUs) and the newest member of the team, Lutheran Air. Here are some other milestones worth recalling:

1975: First MoICU is used at Lutheran Hospital. It was custom-built on the chassis of a 23-foot motor home and especially designed for inter-hospital transport of critically ill patients of all ages with minimum risk placed in service. 140 inter-hospital trips were made during its first year of use.

1983: Lutheran Hospital became the first Fort Wayne hospital to prepare a heliport for emergency air transport.

2003: Emergency Department grows from 20 to 35 beds as a result of a $5.5 million expansion and renovation project.

2004: Lutheran Hospital becomes an Accredited Chest Pain Center in February. Lutheran Air arrives in May.