Recently, a new helicopter was added to the fleet. Diane Lamb, R.N., assistant nurse manager in the Emergency Treatment Center at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, says the new helicopter "is wider than our present helicopter allowing for more room for the patient.
"The engine is slightly larger and the tail rotor is enclosed which makes it safer for ground and hospital personnel, and it is quieter," she says.
The helicopters rapidly transport critically ill and severely injured patients, delivering appropriate medical care en route with special emphasis in supporting high risk patient populations, including multi-system trauma, neonate, and other time-sensitive, complex medical conditions.
AirCare transports 900 patients each year. In addition, AirCare transports at least one pediatric patient per day and transports as many as 400 each year. The AirCare team provides stabilization, management, and transportation of critically ill newborns, premature infants, and children under three years of age.
"Air transport is important to Iowa because we are a rural state with a lot of small hospitals that do a good job of stabilizing patients but don't have to resource there for the types of critical care these patients require," says Lamb.
UI Hospitals and Clinics' Air and Mobile Critical Care Service provides timely access health services to the predominately rural population of Eastern Iowa, Western Illinois and northeast Missouri. The AirCare program works with close to 100 emergency medical services, fire, and law programs, and transports patients from 57 hospitals in Iowa, Western Illinois, and Northeast Missouri.
AirCare I is based at UI Hospitals and Clinics with one helicopter and two mobile critical care ground units on the premises. AirCare I operates 24 hours a day and flies with a crew of two registered nurses.
AirCare II is based in Waterloo, Iowa, at Covenant Medical Center. AirCare II will operate 24 hours a day beginning January 1. AirCare ll flies with a crew of one registered nurse and one paramedic. The Waterloo location provides a more rapid response to calls from north central and northeastern Iowa.
AirCare Emergency Helicopter Service has been operating since March 1979 and was one of the first 12 helicopter transport programs in the United States.
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For more information:
AirCare
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