Flying ICU President Donna G Miller • May 2 Radio Interview

Donna G. Miller, the President of Flying ICU, was the inaugural guest on the Las Vegas International Press Club Radio Show. Hosts Frank Spady and Leonard C. Wright talk to Donna about her business. The following interview has been slightly edited for easy reading.

Interview with Donna G. Miller, President of Flying ICU

FRANK: About two months ago, I met Donna Miller from Flying ICU. I came to find out she has been flying all over the world with the governor. I’m going, “You’re killing me,” and she just got back from China. She’s going down to New Mexico and then here she’s got a great business here in town. She’s the president of Flying ICU, is that correct?

DONNA – Flying ICU: That is correct, Life Guard International, also known as, flying intensive – Flying ICU.

FRANK: She and I go up to Canada [for Governor Sandoval’s trade mission], probably one of the best trips. I thought it was an outstanding trip, didn’t you think so?

DONNA – Flying ICU: That was a great trip. I’ve been, like you said, with the governor. I’ve been traveling with the governor lead trade delegation to a few countries over the last six months. China, Israel, Mexico, Canada. Canada, by far, was probably one of the most successful trade missions.

FRANK: I was there, come on!

DONNA – Flying ICU: Well, it’s all about you, Frank.

FRANK: We had a great time, wasn’t that a great trip?

DONNA – Flying ICU: That was a great trip. It’s not just the contacts that we make with the people in the countries that we visit, but one of my biggest values is actually the people that I travel – my fellow travelers, who are accomplished Nevadans that I might have never met outside of a trip like that.

FRANK: We did have a good run. It was a great…I’m saying, we had Joe Brown [Director, Fennemore, Jones, Vargas Attorneys], one of the local law firms here in town. In fact, he’s on the gaming board and we had the development team with us.

DONNA – Flying ICU: We had people from…esteemed professors and deans from UNLV and UNR. We have people from Desert Research Institute of Nevada. Also, there were other business owners that were basically facing similar challenges and they are driven by similar forces, and we all went to Canada and to other trips to develop economic development relationships.

FRANK: We got stuck at the Ritz-Carlton. What a bummer that was. You know what I mean? Leonard, you wouldn’t have liked it.

LEONARD: I’m kind of curious. You went on some of these trips in other places besides Canada. What was that experience like? What did you learn from that?

Because, the economic development team that he’s put together and the business owners…he’s going to Mexico. He’s going to China. He’s really going all over the world to reach out and you’re kind of in the middle of that inner circle. What were the experiences that you had when you went to these different countries as well?

DONNA – Flying ICU: I actually learned that we are really not that much different from other countries; that we all have similar challenges, I didn’t realize that we were so alike with Israel, for example. We face the same challenges being in the desert and having the same water issues and energy issues.

We went to other countries like Canada, for example, where we actually had a lot to learn from them. One of the reasons we went there was to learn about drones as Nevada now a days has the license to promote unmanned aircraft vehicles.

We went to Canada which they have been doing this for a number of years. We went to see them and talk to them and actually learn from them.

FRANK: Tell us a little bit about Flying ICU and what are you trying to get done here, Donna? And how long have you been doing it?

DONNA – Flying ICU: Lifeguard International (Flying ICU) has been around since 2002, so a little bit over ten years. We are a local air ambulance company. Most people are familiar with the helicopters that are transporting patients from maybe the side of a highway to the local closest trauma hospital.

We actually have airplanes that are converted into flying intensive care units and we transport patients from local…perhaps, a rural facility to a higher level of care facility in a city close by. Well, one example would be transporting patients from Tonopah hospital to Las Vegas, as Las Vegas being higher level of care.

Flying ICU also transports patients back home and home could be basically anywhere in the world. That would be part of a repatriation program. And we’ve been very involved over the last six months with developing Las Vegas as a medical tourism and health and wellness destination, in addition to Las Vegas being already a global tourism destination and like you said a Mecca of conventions and gambling and all of that that’s already known by the rest of the world.