New Helipad increases Emergency Medicine Capabilities at Gulf Coast Medical Center

Panama City, FL (September 2008) - With the construction of a new helipad, Gulf Coast Medical Center is expanding its emergency medicine capabilities.  Hospital Director of Emergency Services Sheila Bradt says the ability for air ambulances to land directly at the hospital means emergency medical services can be provided quicker to patients who need hospital-to-hospital transfers or who are being air lifted from an accident scene.  “The construction of the helipad is in response to community requests for more choices for local emergency medical services,” explains Bradt.

Air ambulance services will be provided by Air Methods, the nation’s largest provider of air medical emergency transport services and systems.  The Denver, Colorado-based company currently has six helicopters stationed in Northwest Florida – DeFuniak Springs, Marianna, Niceville, Perry, Quincy and Tallahassee.  From January 1, 2007 to September 14, 2008, the company logged more than 4,600 flights in Northwest Florida.

“For this region in particular, air ambulance services are a tremendous asset to patients living in rural areas,” says Karen Tayes, REMT-P, RN, base manager for Air Methods.  “With the new helipad, patients who need to be transferred from surrounding community hospitals to Gulf Coast Medical Center can get transferred there more quickly.  And, accident victims can be air lifted to Gulf Coast Medical Center faster than it would take for an ambulance to transport them.”

Patients needing emergency stroke, trauma, obstetrical and pediatric surgery serves will especially benefit from the hospital’s new direct air ambulance capabilities.  “Historically, air ambulance services have been an under utilized resource by our area’s ambulance service,” says Bradt.  “The state of Florida recognizes our hospital as a Primary Stroke Center.  We are also a national Spine Center of Excellence; we have all of the trauma services available here, and we’re the physician and patient’s choice for emergency obstetrical and pediatric surgery.  Our emergency department cares for more than 35,000 patients annually; we’re well-equipped to answer our communities’ emergency medical needs.”

Tayes says air ambulance crews ask patients if they have a choice of which hospital they want to be transported to.  In cases where patients are unable to communicate, they are taken to the closest hospital if it’s appropriate for their specific medical need.

Air Methods crews in Northwest Florida consist of a critical care paramedic, a critical care nurse, and the pilot.  The company has three different aircraft for this area -- The BK-117 and EC-135 are both dual engines and the Astar is a single engine.  They fly an average of two miles a minutes, which is approximately 120 nautical miles an hour.  The aircraft carry about two-and-a-half hours of fuel, which means they can cover an area between Pensacola, Jacksonville and Gainesville.