About us
For the people who answer the call.
The VITALS Foundation for Medical Transport Professionals stands behind the nurses, paramedics, pilots, physicians, mechanics, communicators, and families who make medical transport possible, air and ground, every hour of every day.
Our mission
Support for every shift, every mile, every life.
Medical transport professionals meet people on the hardest day of their lives. They bring skill, calm, and care to places most of us will never see, and then they get ready for the next call.
The work is vital, and it carries real risk: weather, fatigue, long hours, and the quiet weight of what they witness. The Foundation exists so that the people who give this much are supported in return, through education, resilience, safety, recognition, and care for the families of those lost in the line of duty.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Gifts are tax deductible in the United States. EIN 54-2007236.
Why this matters
They carry more than patients.
A crew may lift off before dawn, work a highway scene at midnight, and hand off a patient whose outcome they may never learn. They do it with steady hands and full attention, shift after shift.
What they see does not always stay at work. Some have lost colleagues. Some families have said goodbye to someone who left for a routine call. The VITALS Foundation for Medical Transport Professionals exists so no one in this profession, and no family who shares it, stands alone.
If you or a crewmate is struggling, help is available now. Find peer support and crisis resources.
Who we serve
Every role that gets a patient home.
Rotor wing, fixed wing, ground ambulance, and critical care transport are served equally. Behind every mission is a team, and we stand behind all of them.
- Flight and critical care nurses
- Paramedics and EMTs
- Pilots and drivers
- Physicians and medical directors
- Mechanics and maintenance crews
- Dispatchers and communication specialists
- Program leadership and educators
- Survivor families
“To quote Ralph Waldo Emerson, “To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.” That is what serving my community and others in the profession is all about.”
What your support makes possible
Standing behind those who stand by others.
Every gift goes to work across our six programs for the people of this profession.
Education
Scholarships and training that help skilled clinicians grow into the next generation of leaders.
Learn moreResilience
Peer support and mental health resources ready before a hard call, not after.
Learn moreSafety and research
Work that makes every launch, every transport, and every return home a little safer.
Learn moreFamilies of the fallen
Direct grants for the dependents of crew members lost in the line of duty.
Learn moreOur commitments
Worthy of the people we serve.
- Real numbers only. We publish figures once they are verified, not before.
- Every mode, every role. Funding decisions represent air and ground alike.
- Led by the profession. Our board is made up of people who have done this work.
A monthly gift gives crews and families support they can count on, all year long.
Where your gift goes
- 85%+
- of every gift goes to programs: education and training, resilience and peer support, research, safety, recognition, and LODD dependents grants.
- 10–15%
- cap on operations. Nothing above 15%.
- Published
- financials: Form 990 and the annual report, open to anyone.