North Dakota Medical Center Tests New Helipad

FARGO -- A blue AirMed helicopter ambulance, its rotors thumping and stirring a small windstorm, touched down in a symbolic first flight to christen the helipad at the new Sanford Medical Center. The flight, which originated minutes earlier at Sanford's downtown medical center on Friday, is part of a multitude of preparations being made to open the new $494 million medical center July 25. The helipad at the new medical center will provide ready access to deliver patients to the emergency department or cardiac catheter lab, for instance, in cases where minutes can make the difference. "Literally, as soon as patients are off the helicopter, it's just a couple of minutes and they'll be in the cath lab," said Susan Jarvis, Sanford's executive director of emergency, trauma and critical care. Saving time can save heart muscle, in the event of a heart attack, or brain tissue, in the case of a stroke, she said. The primary helipad is located on the medical center's fourth floor, with a hangar nearby. A secondary helipad, located on the ground, will help during especially busy periods. The helicopter pilot, Bill Schafer, began flying for the ambulance service 31 years ago, when choppers were added to the service's airplane ambulances. He's seen the program grow and evolve during that span. Sanford's AirMed service now has 300 employees, 90 in Fargo, including four helicopter pilots, 10 airplane pilots and three mechanics. It also has 10 flight paramedics, 11 flight nurses, 1...
Source: JEMS Operations - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: News Operations Source Type: news