Medical Transport Service Takes Off At Valley Airport

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

Medical Transport Service

Takes Off At Valley Airport

By DAN WRIGHT

Daily News-Record

WEYERS CAVE-PHI Aircare Medevac began service from Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport Friday.

Aircare Five consists of a crew of 15 and a helicopter based at the airport to provide around-the-clock service to the Valley.

The Shenandoah Valley "has needed its own medevac service for some time," said Brett Henyon, paramedic and base manager for PHI.

A medevac service based in the Valley is critical to getting to Valley locations quicker, he added.

Medical transport by air has been available in the Valley since 1984, when Pegasus began operations at University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville.

Aircare Five will have five paramedics and five flight nurses-all trained in critical care-four pilots and a mechanic. Based 11 miles from Rockingham Memorial Hospital and 13 miles from Augusta Medical Center, the flight crew will be able to reach almost any location in either county within 15 minutes.

PHI will use a Bell 412 helicopter initially. It will be replaced with a smaller, faster Eurocopter EC-135 within a month. The $4.1 million EC-135 will be night vision and instrument flight equipped.

PHI Aircare operates independently from the hospitals its serves. It supports its operations by billing the patient's insurance companies, according to Mike Norton, regional director for PHI Aircare.

Insurance companies can save money through air medevac services, Norton explained. In most cases, a patient that gets to the hospital quicker will have a shorter, less expensive stay.

PHI has a percentage of indigent care built into its cost structure. The company keeps its costs down by being part of a larger, full-service organization that owns, maintains and operates a fleet of nearly 300 helicopters.

PHI Aircare Medevac is a service of PHI Air Medical Group, a subsidiary of Petroleum Helicopters Inc., based in Lafayette, La.

From: http://www.dnronline.com/local-story3.asp

[student4ever]

Medical Transport Service

Takes Off At Valley Airport

By DAN WRIGHT

Daily News-Record

WEYERS CAVE-PHI Aircare Medevac began service from Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport Friday.

Aircare Five consists of a crew of 15 and a helicopter based at the airport to provide around-the-clock service to the Valley.

The Shenandoah Valley "has needed its own medevac service for some time," said Brett Henyon, paramedic and base manager for PHI.

A medevac service based in the Valley is critical to getting to Valley locations quicker, he added.

Medical transport by air has been available in the Valley since 1984, when Pegasus began operations at University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville.

Aircare Five will have five paramedics and five flight nurses-all trained in critical care-four pilots and a mechanic. Based 11 miles from Rockingham Memorial Hospital and 13 miles from Augusta Medical Center, the flight crew will be able to reach almost any location in either county within 15 minutes.

PHI will use a Bell 412 helicopter initially. It will be replaced with a smaller, faster Eurocopter EC-135 within a month. The $4.1 million EC-135 will be night vision and instrument flight equipped.

PHI Aircare operates independently from the hospitals its serves. It supports its operations by billing the patient's insurance companies, according to Mike Norton, regional director for PHI Aircare.

Insurance companies can save money through air medevac services, Norton explained. In most cases, a patient that gets to the hospital quicker will have a shorter, less expensive stay.

PHI has a percentage of indigent care built into its cost structure. The company keeps its costs down by being part of a larger, full-service organization that owns, maintains and operates a fleet of nearly 300 helicopters.

PHI Aircare Medevac is a service of PHI Air Medical Group, a subsidiary of Petroleum Helicopters Inc., based in Lafayette, La.

From: http://www.dnronline.com/local-story3.asp

Marie,

Thanks for posting this up! I work at RMH(Rockingham Memorial Hospital), and we are so excited to have this new service up and running in our area! I'm currently in Registration/Admitting, but I'm taking my Pre-reqs for Blue Ridge Community College's RN program, and just accepted a Clinical Assistant position in our ER - so excited to take that next step towards starting my nursing career! It's great to know that people outside of the Shenandoah Valley actually know where we are, and are interested in the news that affects us! Just curious, do you live in or near the Shenandoah Valley yourself?