(Radio Iowa) – Western Iowa is getting helicopter emergency medical service back after losing a copter when Mercy Medical Center closed. Lifenet will provide the helicopter service, and head flight nurse Ethan Neff says the will help speed up care in critical situations. “We’re able to transport patients to give them that high level of care to a higher level of care hospital,” he says.
The chopper will be based in Sioux City and Neff says there are a lot of services they can provide. “We are a mobile I-C-U. We can do most of the things an I-C-U intensive care unit can do in the hospital. We have specialized transport ventilator, we carry blood products for trauma patients. We all have advanced training in adults and pediatrics as well,” Neff says.
Air Methods area manager Craig Marshall says they partnered with Mercy Medical Center before it closed. )”So we had that familiarity with the Sioux City area to begin with. So we knew this area, they need two aircraft at least. We know the flight volume is that high here. So we know we needed to come back in,” he says.
Lifenet’s air ambulance will serve western Iowa, eastern Nebraska and southeast South Dakota.
