The sixth helicopter in Erlanger Health System's Life Force fleet arrived at the Chattanooga hospital Wednesday to be equipped for its service in western North Carolina, starting next month.
The new aircraft, which is owned by the Dallas-based Med-Trans Air Medical Transport, is a H135 with instrument flight rules (IFR) to operate in mountainous terrain. The new aircraft will be dispatched by Erlanger's Life Force and stationed at the Western Carolina Regional Airport in Andrews, N.C.
The aircraft will be used primarily to transport trauma patients to Erlanger. The inaugural flight is scheduled for Aug. 15.
With the addition of the aircraft, Erlanger officials said patients in the Murphy, N.C., region will have quicker access to a higher level of care with increased safety.
Erlanger Health System is negotiating with the 25-bed Murphy Medical Center hospital in western North Carolina to either purchase, lease or manage the facility. Erlanger signed a letter of intent in June to pursue a takeover of the 38-year-old hospital, although no deal has yet been inked.
Ahead of any takeover of Murphy Medical, Erlanger agreed to expand its Life Force serviceto another three or four counties in North Carolina to add to the 63 counties in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama served by Erlanger's Life Force helicopters.
"This puts our resources out into these rural communities which are not close to tertiary care hospitals and puts these critical care services into these areas," Robbie Tester, a vice president of operations for Erlanger, said last month. "For an ambulance to commute someone from Murphy, N.C., to Erlanger is about a two to two and a half hour transport - there's not an easy way to get here from there. A helicopter can make that trip in 25 minutes or less."
Erlanger's Life Force provides the clinical team for medical operations and Med Trans Corp., provides pilots and mechanics for the aeromedical service, along with the aircraft.
Med-Trans, which operates more than 100 aircraft for hospitals and other emergency response agencies, equips the Life Force fleet with Airbus H135 helicopters and Bell 407 helicopters.
Life Force has been providing air medical transport to the Chattanooga region for more than 27 years and operates five bases in Tennessee and Georgia that cover 50,000 square miles.
On average, Life Force flies approximately 2,500 patients each year and is the only air ambulance program in the region that carries ultrasound, blood and plasma and is credentialed by physicians at Erlanger to perform emergency surgical procedures.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.