This story first appeared in the 2024 Dean’s Annual Report
Patricia “Tricia” Margarido, a 2019 graduate of UConn’s Executive MBA program, leads a critical care team that takes care of patients in the most desperate, dire, and frightening moments of their lives.
She and her colleagues at Hartford Hospital’s LIFE STAR program treat patients 1,500 feet in the air, in the tight confines of a moving helicopter, assisted by equipment with the technological capacity found in an ICU. Their workspace is 11-by-5 feet, and their missions often take place in the darkness of night.
“There are many difficult days in this line of work. But when we’re able to help save the life of a patient in crisis, this is the best job imaginable,” says Margarido, who is the co-director of the LIFE STAR program with emergency medicine physician Dr. Lauri Bolton, and partners with Nurse Director Heather Standish. “We all have an inner drive, a love of our job, and an unrelenting desire to help others.”
The three-member team includes a nurse, a respiratory therapist or paramedic, and a pilot. On board, they have more than 50 different medications, blood products, ultrasound technology, a ventilator, a cardiac monitor, and IV infusions. The team is supported on the ground by aviation mechanics, communication specialists, and administrative professionals.
“The short time that we’re together in the helicopter is very, very intense,” Margarido says. “Most of the time we’re working without talking. We can anticipate each other’s needs.”
LIFE STAR is staffed 24 hours a day, can transport patients who have suffered heart attacks, strokes, burns, and other traumatic injuries and illnesses, and is prepared to care for everyone from infants to the elderly. The program operates three helicopters, based in Meriden and Norwich, and Westfield, Massachusetts.
