Clarinda Health Center offers new medical helicopter service
CLARINDA —Southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri residents will receive faster medical air service with the start of Mercy One air ambulance service based in Clarinda.
Clarinda Regional Health Center (CRHC), Mercy Medical Center – Des Moines and Air Methods/LifeNet have partnered to base southwest Iowa’s only air ambulance at Clarinda RegionaL. The Clarinda-based air ambulance will serve an initial area within a 40-mile radius of Clarinda and will have the ability to transport patients to medical centers in Omaha, Lincoln, Des Moines, and St. Joseph, Mo.
The Bell 407 helicopter will have the ability to service air ambulance calls in southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri. This will include a 15-county region surrounding Clarinda to include the Iowa hospital communities of Atlantic, Corning, Creston, Mount Ayr, Red Oak, Shenandoah and Missouri hospital communities of Fairfax and Maryville. Outlying areas may also utilize this service for on-scene emergency calls.
The air ambulance will operate 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week. Mercy – Des Moines will staff the air ambulance’s medical crew and have hired 11 new flight paramedics and flight nurses who will be based in Clarinda. Air Methods hired three pilots and a mechanic as well.
CRHC CEO Chris Stipe thinks the benefits of a regional air ambulance program are going to be noticeable for area residents. “When minutes matter for cardiac events, brain injuries or other traumatic medical emergencies, we will all benefit from having a regionally-based air ambulance. This means southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri residents can expect an even quicker medical transfer to an urban medical center when specialized care is needed.”
Mercy One Program Manager, Dennis Cochran, says Mercy – Des Moines is pleased to be a part of this partnership to better serve the region. “This will be our third flight program in the state of Iowa. Our Mercy One air ambulance program has been very successful in terms of fast response times in other locations, so we’re excited to bring this level of service to southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri. We’ve put together a highly professional flight crew of nurses and medics. They can’t wait to get in the air to start helping patients.”
“This Clarinda-based service is a win-win for patients in southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri,” states Air Methods’ Field Operations Manager, Lyle Butler. “Clarinda is geographically located between Omaha, Des Moines and St. Joseph, so from a flight time scenario we felt there was an opportunity to serve this region better. This regional service will dramatically decrease response time to local hospitals.”