Inger-Lisa Skroder’s Trinity Air Ambulance is remarkably different from her peers in many respects. It has a dedicated team of medical professionals along with her who take care of the operations as well as the management ownership and it is headed by a spirited woman. One of the most successful and respected Air Ambulance service in the US, it took her a grueling 12 years to break through conventional and stereotyped glass ceilings in corporate dynamics and a daring perseverance that took a snide challenge “You will never get off the ground” head on.
Inger Lisa Skroder began her nursing career in her home city of Vancouver, Canada. She graduated from the Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing in 1989 and began working as a nurse in Florida shortly thereafter. After many years of working in various South Florida hospitals, Inger Lisa moved to Seattle in 1996 to continue her education in medicine. In 1997 she completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) at the University of Washington, Bothell Campus, which was then rated the “#1 School of Nursing” by the U.S. News & World Report. Immediately after graduation she began working on her Masters Degree.
In 1998 Inger Lisa returned to Florida to complete her Masters thesis and perform her final clinical practicum with Dr. King. She graduated with her Masters Degree from the University of Washington’s Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program in 1999. In 2000, Inger Lisa became the first Nurse Practitioner ever hired by American Airlines. She was in charge of overseeing the medical care and wellbeing of the American Airlines pilots, airline crews and employees.
Inger Lisa dreamed of creating an air ambulance company that would be unique in the fact that it would be the only Air Ambulance company owned and operated by licensed and actively practicing healthcare providers. In February 1999, that dream was realized when she formed Trinity Air Ambulance International with Dr. King and her business partner and brother Tor Skroder. She says in a recent interview, “Getting started was difficult. Day after day, we received rejections from hospitals and large insurance companies, some of whom required many years of established experience in the air ambulance business. I stopped counting after 30 separate attempts to gain a foothold. The already-established air ambulance companies felt threatened by the newcomer, especially a female with a medical background. Perversely, these rejections and a comment from a local air ambulance company–”You will never get off the ground”–motivated me even more to succeed.”
Trinity Air Ambulance now own and operate two Learjet 35A planes. Their unblemished safety record even had the State of Florida EMS inspection team recommending TAA as “an example of how an air ambulance company should be run.”
Trinity Air Ambulance, led by Inger Lisa, continues to set the standard for high moral standards, ethics and patient care.
Inger Lisa Skroder was interviewed by ABC reporter Laurie Jennings for a special series on female entrepreneurs, and aired on ABC’s Channel 10 News
