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Air Ambulance Base Serving Elmore County, Alabama
Air Evac Lifeteam, a rural provider of air ambulance services, has announced plans to expand it service area in Alabama with the opening of a base in Elmore County later this year.
The base, scheduled to begin operations in August, will be located at the Wetumpka Airport. It will be one of more than 63 bases in Air Evac Lifeteam’s network of air ambulance services. Bases are located in rural communities in 11 states throughout the central United States. The base will provide employment for 12 to 15 employees and will serve communities within a 70-mile radius.
Air Evac Lifeteam, headquartered in West Plains, Mo., is the largest independently owned air ambulance service in the country. The company’s business philosophy is based on the belief that air ambulances should be placed in areas of greatest need – rural communities that are often hours away from lifesaving trauma care.
“People who live in rural communities are twice as likely to die from a critical injury or illness than their counterparts who live in metropolitan areas – mainly due to the amount of time it takes to reach medical care,” said Air Evac Lifeteam President and CEO Colin Collins. “Our goal is to decrease that statistic by giving those who’ve chosen to live in rural America equal access to quality health care.
“The opening of this base is part of an oncoming commitment by Air Evac Lifeteam and the health care community in this region to improve access to trauma care for residents of rural America,” Collins said. “We would not be able to offer this valuable service without the support of many people, including Wetumpka Mayor Mary “Jo” Glenn and the city council, as well as Prattville Fire Chief Stanley Gann and numerous other emergency service agencies and city and county officials. The added support from 911 centers and emergency services in Elmore County as well as the surrounding counties of Montgomery, Autauga, Chilton, Lowndes, Tallapoosa, Coosa and Macon has been phenomenal.
“The people of this region are very fortunate to have access to quality health care services though their local hospitals and EMS providers. Our goal is be an extension of that excellent service by providing rapid transport in critical medical situations,” Collins added. “We commend these local officials for recognizing the benefits this lifesaving resource will be to the patients they serve.
Mayor Glenn said she is pleased about Air Evac Lifeteam’s decision to place an air ambulance service in the region.
”We are very excited to have Air Evac Lifeteam here in Wetumpka and Elmore County, and believe they will be a valuable asset to our EMS, Fire and Rescue services as well as the citizens of Wetumpka and Elmore County,” she said.
Prattville Fire Chief Stanley Gann echoed those comments. ”I am excited about the future improvements Air Evac Lifeteam will make to our EMS System. The Prattville Fire Department provides EMS not only to the City of Prattville, but also to all of Autauga County and portions of Elmore County. Some of our calls place us 30 miles or more from a hospital and even further from definitive care for some patients. Rapid access to definitive care has proven to improve patient outcomes. I think that in auto accidents, major trauma, cardiac and strokes, patient outcomes will greatly improve through air transport when they are long distances from definitive care.”
Air Evac Lifeteam crews, which include a registered nurse, paramedic and pilot are on call at each base 24 hours a day. They provide on-the-scene medical care, rapid transport to medical facilities and critical care inter-facility transfers. Each helicopter is equipment with state-of-the-art medical equipment and crewmembers are trained in advanced pre-hospital care so medical care can begin at the scene and continue en route to the hospital.
Air Evac Lifeteam was the first air ambulance service in the country to offer a membership program. Members pay an annual fee and, if they are flown by Air Evac Lifeteam for life- or limb-threatening medical emergencies, they do not have to pay for the flight. Memberships are valid in all Air Evac Lifeteam service areas so members are covered while traveling through Air Evac Lifeteam service areas.
Annual memberships are $50 for an individual, $55 for a couple and $60 for a household or three or more.
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