New Intermountain Life Flight jet flies 6-year-old boy to specialized care in Texas

SALT LAKE CITY — It can happen at any moment. Your child is fine one second and then the next they need specialized medical attention.

That was the case for 6-year-old Ezra who went into heart failure last month. Thanks to Intermountain’s new Life Flight Jet, he got the care he needed.

“He could have died in his classroom,” said his father Zane Partridge.

Standing in front of Intermountain’s newest Life Flight Jet called the Challenger 604, Zane Partridge described the moments his son Ezra went into heart failure.

“We were hanging out watching Pokemon together and he just suddenly wasn’t there. He stopped breathing,” Zane said.

Ezra had a severe case of pulmonary vein stenosis and was at Primary’s being treated when things went from bad to worse.

Doctors placed him on an ECMO machine which is similar to a heart-lung by-pass machine that is used in open-heart surgery.

He needed more specialized care in Houston, Texas.

His father said, “It was our best shot of keeping Ezra with us.”

Life Flight’s new jet flew him to Texas. The Intermountain Healthcare team called it a tool that will benefit patients all over the country.

Kent Johnson, Intermountain Life Flight Director of Aviation Operations said, “From Salt Lake City to the east coast and back, to anchorage, and even to Hawaii. And with the advanced system involved, we can actually transport patients anywhere in the world.”

The new medical jet is designed so it can treat even the most critically ill patients.

It can transport up to two patients or eight passengers total.

“Life Flight exists for one reason and one reason only, to take care of the people in our community,” said Dr. Bill Beninati, Intermountain Life Flight Medical Director. “And this aircraft allows us to take that to a higher level than what we’ve been able to accomplish before. “

Ezra returned home from Texas on this specialized jet last week and today he is doing well.

His dad credited the Life Flight staff and their ability to get his son the care he needed with saving his life.

“It’s pretty amazing that we can transport a person across the country to get him this really specialized care.”

The Life Flight jet will also be used for longer distance organ retrievals providing more opportunities to those who need that critical care