09/17/2007 CALSTAR SELECTS SKY CONNECT FOR VOICE, TRACKING AND TEXT MESSAGING
California Shock/Trauma Air Rescue (CALSTAR) air medical transport service is installing Sky Connect's Iridium network-based voice, automated tracking and text messaging service in its fleet of helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. The move will provide CALSTAR aircraft with continual automatic satellite tracking and communications for its operations in northern and central California, including regions around Lake Tahoe. The 66-satellite Iridium network system will provide CALSTAR dispatch centers with real time information about their aircraft. The system automatically provides secure position, altitude, airspeed and heading information, plus other important operational data. CALSTAR selected Sky Connect's Mission Management Unit, which reduces cockpit workload by enabling crew members to send and receive text messages and to place calls quickly using step-saver phone number lists. Louie Bell, Director of Flight Operations for CALSTAR, explains, "Sky Connect will add a new dimension to our communications and operational control capabilities". "Having a reliable automatic tracking system will add new measures of safety and communication to CALSTAR's already stellar operations, particularly with their aircraft that operate in remote and mountainous regions," said Wiley Loughran, Sky Connect's senior vice president of sales and marketing. "The combination of the reliable Iridium network and Sky Connect's advanced communications equipment gives CALSTAR unprecedented operational control and communications coverage where ever they fly." ### About Sky Connect LLC Sky Connect offers a range of satellite-based tracking, text messaging, and telephone systems for airborne, ground-based, and marine applications in both the commercial and government markets. Sky Connect provides automated flight tracking with true worldwide coverage. Aircraft phone systems support headset interfaces plus corded or cordless handsets. Sky Connect uses the Iridium satellite network for complete Earth coverage and mission effectiveness.
About CALSTAR CALSTAR was founded in 1983 in order to meet the need for rapid transport of critically ill and injured patients. Since then, CALSTAR has delivered over 30,000 patients to tertiary care facilities in Northern California and has grown from one to nine bases of operation flying both rotor and fixed wing aircraft.
