Randy travels with Cleveland Clinic Critical Care Transport units. The Cleveland Clinic uses helicopter and fixed wing to go as far as Dubai to pick up patients.

From their press releases: The Cleveland Clinic (formally known as the Cleveland Clinic Foundation) is a multispecialty academic medical center located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The Cleveland Clinic is currently regarded as one of the top 4 hospitals in the United States as rated by U.S. News & World Report. The Cleveland Clinic was established in 1921 by four physicians for the purpose of providing patient care, research, and medical education in an ideal medical setting. One of the largest private medical centers in the world, the Cleveland Clinic saw more than 3,200,000 patient visits in 2009, with almost 80,000 hospital admissions. Patients arrive at the Cleveland Clinic from all 50 states and more than 100 nations. The Cleveland Clinic’s approximately 2,500 staff physicians and residents represent 120 medical specialties and subspecialties. The Cleveland Clinic was ranked number one in America for cardiac care from 1994 to 2009.

Cleveland Clinic is also an Ohio nonprofit corporation which as of December 2010 had 10 regional hospitals in Northeast Ohio, a hospital and family health center in Florida, and a health center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a specialty center in Las Vegas, and a hospital in Abu Dhabi opening in 2012.

The Cleveland Clinic was founded in February 1921 by four renowned Cleveland physicians. Three of the founders, George Washington Crile, Frank Bunts, and William Lower, were surgeons who had worked together in an army medical unit in France during World War I.

Upon their return to the United States, they desired to establish a group practice and invited an internist, John Phillips, to join in their endeavor. The concept of group practice in medicine was relatively new at the time. Only the Mayo Clinic and military units were known to follow this model. The founders established the Clinic with the vision: “Better care of the sick, investigation of their problems, and further education of those who serve.” Dr. Crile was a surgeon of national prominence and attracted patients from around the country, especially for his expertise in thyroid surgery. The Clinic saw rapid growth in its early years but suffered a major setback in 1929 that almost closed its doors permanently. On May 15, 1929, a fire started in the basement of the hospital caused by nitrocellulose x-ray film that spontaneously ignited. The fire claimed 125 lives, including that of one of the founders, Dr. Phillips. Following this fire and the subsequent Great Depression, the Cleveland Clinic regained momentum and eventually obtained national recognition especially in cardiovascular disease. In the decades since World War II, the Clinic has grown to become internationally prominent and is currently the second-largest medical group practice in the world, after the Mayo Clinic.

The Cleveland Clinic has been the site of numerous medical firsts, including:

• synthesis of angiotensin II (involved in high blood pressure)
• isolation of serotonin (involved in depression) by Dr. Irvine Page
• development of “no-touch” colorectal surgery
• promotion of conservative surgery for breast cancer in America
• invention of “washing-machine artificial kidney” dialysis machine
• first coronary angiography by F. Mason Sones in 1958
• first coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) by René Favaloro in 1967
• first minimally invasive aortic valve surgery
• first successful larynx transplant
• discovery of first gene linked to juvenile macular degeneration
• discovery of first gene linked to familial coronary artery disease
• first percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG)
• identification of carpal tunnel syndrome
• use of sodium nitroprusside in the clinical setting (for hypertension)
• first mitral valve repair and Maze procedure in the same operation
• first endovascular tricuspid valve implant
• first face transplant in the U.S. performed by a team led by Maria Siemionow[15]
• first completed transvaginal Nephrectomy in 2009