On average, air ambulances operated by Air Medical Group respond to about 800 calls a day in 31 states.
Eagle Med, the Kansas arm of the national company, answers calls from Pittsburg, Chanute and Wichita, with a helicopter in Chanute serving Allen County, Linda Guiot, company representative told Iola Rotarians Thursday.
During spring and summer the Chanute helicopter answers as many as 60 requests a month for assistance to transport seriously injured or ill patients and about two-thirds that many in fall and winter. Guiot said the difference came from more people being out and about in warmer weather, resulting in more accidents.
Transfers often are made from hospitals, but occasionally the Chanute helicopter picks up a patient at the site of an accident.
“We have 230 bases in the 31 states,” Guiot said, with fixed wing aircraft as well as helicopters being employed. Recently bases were opened in Pensacola, Fla., and Anchorage, Alaska.
The area Eagle Med helicopter is stationed at Chanute’s airport, with four pilots and a crew of 15 providing 24-hour service seven days a week. An individual flight has a pilot, nurse and medic on board.
“We can answer a call in three minutes or less,” Guiot observed, noting the only difference between life-saving capabilities of an Eagle Med helicopter and those found in an emergency room is “that we don’t have a doctor on board.”
The nurse is situated in such a way to tend to the patient’s full body, even though space is tight.
A helicopter has weight restrictions, with patient weight limited to 400 pounds.
“Sometimes we have to use up fuel before a pickup” to meet weight limits, Guiot said.
A helicopter holds 143 gallons of fuel and burns a gallon a minute during flight.
Response and speed to a care facility is “about three times greater” than ground transport, she said, pointing out a helicopter cruises at 145 miles an hour and takes a direct route from pickup to hospital or medical center.
Pilots have to have 2,000 hours of flight experience and also undergo special training, particularly with night-vision goggles, while nurses are required to have three years of experience.
Guiot said cost of an average flight is $25,000, “and rarely does insurance cover it all.” The company has a membership program, costing $65 a year for a household, that results in free service.
