In the nation’s fourth largest city, the seat of its third largest county, it seems you spend so much of your life just trying to get from one place to another.

But suppose for a moment that life itself was hanging in the balance... How quickly you got there could be the difference between living and dying.

That’s where Memorial Hermann’s Life Flight comes in.

“We’re flying about 160 mph direct to where something happens,” Life Flight Aviation Director Eric Von Wenckstrern said.

“With the freeway system in Houston and how far out we go, it’s important to get people back to a Level 1 trauma center and to the operating room,” Clinical Director William David said.

“The average time from phone call to when we get a patient is 42 minutes,” Von Wenckstern said.

Life Flight averages 3,000 missions a year. That's eight calls a day. And now, the busiest air medical program in the country – not to mention one of the first – is upgrading its fleet.

Memorial Hermann is purchasing six new helicopters: Four to replace the existing fleet, one dedicated to pediatric cases and one for Houston’s east side.

The price tag for the purchase is $36 million, all from donations.

And not only are the new helicopters 33 percent faster, they’re technologically superior and quieter.

“We believe with these aircraft, we are able to bring all the resources of Memorial Hermann Hospital to the patient wherever they may be, whether on the side of the road or a small outlying hospital, we bring all of those resources to the patient,” David said.

“The medical crews are trained by the physicians here, so there’s the same standard of care from the time we get on the scene to when they get to the emergency room,” Von Wenckstern said.

Life Flight says that’s a standard that continues all the way through to a patient’s release from the medical center.