Air Ambulance Service Launched in Wyoming
March 14--CHEYENNE -- The launch of air ambulance service at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center is just several weeks away.
Work is going on now to achieve a smooth start. The ambulance could be operating by the end of April.
AirLife will provide the service. Based in Denver, it has operated for 28 years.
Some AirLife employees are in the community now, getting familiar with the area and working with hospitals and emergency providers.
Bob Greene, an AirLife flight nurse, said the start date depends on the delivery of a new helicopter. It also depends on when employees and area emergency responders get comfortable.
"We feel the need to be here as soon as possible," Greene said. "But you have to balance that with safe operations."
Cheyenne Regional contracted with HCA-HealthOne n of which AirLife is a part n for $500,000 a year to provide the service. The goal is to offer skilled care and reduce emergency response times in outlying areas.
Greene, who is an outreach coordinator and a certified critical care nurse, has been with AirLife for 13 years. He is one of the AirLife employees in Cheyenne now.
They are flying a green-and-blue helicopter to get familiar with the area. They have flown to Kimball, Neb., Torrington, Wheatland and Laramie.
Greene said employees take aerial photographs to mark obstacles like wind turbines. They will build a database, which they will share with other agencies, to avoid hazards.
AirLife employees are visiting area hospitals, emergency medical service providers and firefighters. They will train local EMS and other responders to get comfortable with loading patients on and off the helicopter.
They also are creating pre-designated landing zones along I-80 that can be used if needed.
Susan Wilson, trauma coordinator at Cheyenne Regional, said the hospital went with AirLife because it has a great reputation. The careful planning is a sign of how it runs its business, she added.
Cheyenne will have a new Bell 407 Ranger helicopter that will be based at the Cheyenne Regional Airport. Pilots will bring patients to the hospital's landing area on an upper floor.
An airport hangar will be remodeled as a crew quarters. Mechanics will have their own work area.
Training and education are strengths of the AirLife service, Greene said.
Employees exceed the minimum training and education required of many air ambulances, he said. And pilots must have at least 3,000 hours of flight time, 500 in high-terrain flying.
Flight nurses must have a minimum of five years experience in hospital emergency departments and critical care. Paramedics must have five years of flight experience.
Each crew will have three people: a pilot and two nurses or a nurse and a paramedic.
"We have an entire critical care medical regimen that goes above the (advanced life support) level," Greene said. "We like to say we're a little combination of a flying ER and a flying ICU together."
Copyright 2012 - Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne
