Life Flight Network’s reliability at forefront of emergency care
Life Flight Network is the largest not-for-profit air medical transport provider in the United States. Their company promise — “There. When you need us.” — reflects a commitment to reliability in emergency medical care. They transport patients using helicopters, airplanes, and ground ambulances from accident sites, remote communities, and between medical facilities. Their reach spans Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Hawaii, serving more than 16 million people across some of the most geographically diverse terrain in the country. More than 900 professionals power that mission every day.
Seamless communication: Lifeline to critical care
Effective communication sits at the heart of Life Flight Network’s life-saving work. The moment a dispatch call comes in, accurate information must reach the pilot and medical crew quickly. That coordination supports the ICU-level care team en route and the hospital team preparing for the patient’s arrival. It also helps pilots and transport crews adapt to shifting weather conditions and flight logistics in real time.
Inside Life Flight Network’s network infrastructure
Life Flight Network runs a sophisticated infrastructure built for uninterrupted communication across dozens of aircraft bases and operational sites. Radio over IP in their dispatch centers depends on consistent connectivity between base networks. Their infrastructure also supports critical applications like Flight Vector and Rescue Net — tools that track flights, enable real-time decision-making, and manage billing. The organization operates a hub-and-spoke topology centered in Beaverton, Oregon, with point-to-point VPN connections extending to every site. To support continued growth, Life Flight Network is migrating its on-premises footprint to Azure — a move that keeps pace with advancing technology while maintaining the reliability their operations demand.
How Bigleaf supports Life Flight Network’s critical missions
Bigleaf addresses Life Flight Network’s connectivity challenges with speed and precision. Same-IP failover delivers seamless circuit transitions — no disruptions, no dropped connections. Bigleaf’s public IPs add another layer of network stability and simplify configuration across operational sites.
VPN traffic runs on the most stable circuit available. When a circuit degrades or goes down, Bigleaf provides redundancy and failover without dropping the session. It also prioritizes traffic types within VPN tunnels — a level of stability that public internet alone cannot deliver.
Simplicity is a defining advantage.
“I really appreciate the simplicity of Bigleaf,” says Jonathan Knowles, Life Flight Network’s network engineer. “The entire network team is comprised of my manager and me; not having another thing I need to worry about or babysit is awesome.”
Bigleaf Wireless Connect: Elevating Life Flight’s Network’s reliability in underserved areas
Bigleaf Wireless Connect gives Life Flight Network reliable backup connectivity in the rural locations where many of their bases sit. “Most of our bases are positioned in rural locations where, if someone were to have a horrible accident — the worst day of their life — we would be able to get to them and then to a hospital much faster than with ground transport,” Knowles explains.
Life Flight Network previously relied on point-to-point wireless solutions that dropped frequently and unpredictably. Some locations now use Starlink as a primary circuit. Bigleaf Wireless Connect adds a cost-effective, flexible layer on top of that.
“It’s absolutely crucial for us to have different flavors of connectivity because we can’t always get a hardline connection,” says Knowles. “We have such eclectic locations, from metro areas with millions of people to places that barely have a post office. To have another tool for backup is really great.”
Knowles also values the consolidated management. “We’ve used other solutions but that adds another pane of glass to manage; whereas Wireless Connect is not only more affordable, but it’s managed by Bigleaf, which is more performant, in my opinion.”
Bigleaf Wireless Connect gives Life Flight Network confidence that a strong backup solution is always in place — keeping life-saving operations running without interruption.
Experience transformation with Bigleaf and Bigleaf Wireless Connect
Unlock the transformative potential of Bigleaf and Bigleaf Wireless Connect to improve network reliability and performance. Enable uninterrupted operations, even in the most challenging environments.
Do you have limited connectivity options? Contact us for a demo and learn how Bigleaf Wireless Connect can help.