STAR Flight pilot retires after 14 years

Dripping Springs — Most people would run away in the face of danger. For Jim Reid, he’s used to flying straight into it.

Reid recently retired from a prolific 14-year piloting career with Travis County STAR Flight, the only 24/7 aerial emergency medical service in Texas that provides highly specialized emergency response services to more than a dozen counties in the Central Texas area.

His tenure with STAR Flight came after 23 years in the U.S. Coast Guard where he helped pilot rescue missions after hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike. During one flood operation in the Hill Country, STAR Flight requested personnel and helicopters from the Coast Guard. Reid got to know a handful of STAR Flight members through this mission, which eventually led him to join the program in 2009 after retiring from the military.

Reid, along with his wife and three children, got to Dripping Springs “as soon as we could.” The change meant that his family would be able to establish themselves and stay in one place as opposed to rotating locations every two to three years as he did in the Coast Guard.

However, the change also meant a new kind of life for Reid. The STAR Flight crew consists of nurses, paramedics, pilots and other support staff like flight mechanics. Specialty transport teams were also created to join four area hospitals and provide 24hour neonatal, pediatric and high-risk OB services. The crews, including Reid, worked 40-hour weeks on three shifts in a seven-week rotation. Two aircrafts serve the program, with one being 24-hours and the other for 12-hour day shifts — and they do a little bit of everything.

“Our mission is so different than any other medical provider in the U.S.,” Reid said. “We do public missions, we do search and rescue, we do firefighting, we do law assist, we do medevac (medical evacuation).”

While Travis County is in STAR Flight’s official name, the team also supports surrounding areas, including Hays County and has even flown as far out as San Angelo, Temple and Houston for high-risk situations.

Reid said that on a day-to-day basis, he would fly to anything from a car wreck, a medical emergency at a home, a hospital-to-hospital transfer or to assist with a wildfire.

Such a job comes with challenges — car wrecks involving children were some of the worst, Reid said. But he also acknowledged that the service he was able to provide through STAR Flight helps more than just the victim of a particular situation.

“We’re meeting most of these people on the worst day of their life,” Reid said.

“The good thing about it [STAR Flight] is that it allows ambulances to stay here locally and help other people. They could be in downtown Austin missing calls and medics from San Marcos or Kyle have to come up here and backfill.

That’s why there’s been so many heartaches … It’s a great asset for Hays County to have this.”

The trick to staying calm in highstress situations was to focus on the task at hand and what he could control, Reid said.

“You just have to focus on what we're trained to do, which is fly the aircraft.

You have to separate yourself a little bit from the patient in the back. We can't fly any faster,” he said. “The only thing I can do to make the whole situation better is to just fly safely. Looking outside, looking for antennas, looking for wires, being cautious about landing, looking for other aircraft, drones or birds.”

For Reid, the success of the lifesaving program would not be possible without the camaraderie of the STAR Flight team. One of the most rewarding parts of the job was knowing that he was able to provide a safe flight to all of his teams, he said.

“We got to know them pretty well. We fly with the same team members quite often. Usually, we worked with the same medic and nurse for about a year at a time … You get to know those people very well,” he said. “Between 12 hour shifts or overnight, during some tough situations to sometimes just sitting there for eight to 10 hours waiting for a call. It was enjoyable to work with the people and get to know other people from all parts of the country [and] sharing those experiences.”

Reid said he now looks forward to retirement with his wife Jennifer.

They sold Texas Bulk Water, a water delivery company they started a decade ago, to new owners who will continue to serve the area. Together, he and Jennifer are going back to their “Coast Guard roots” and plan on traveling while maintaining property here in Dripping Springs — but the memories of more than a decade of helping save lives with STAR Flight are something that will stick forever.