The National Park Medical Center and Survival Flight, Inc. will begin providing an emergency airlift service to Hot Springs and the nearby area in August, according to a news release.
The National Park Medical Center, an RCCH hospital, is located at 1910 Malvern Ave. in Hot Springs National Park.
“We’re excited to bring this service to our patients and our community,” Jerry Mabry, president of RCCH Arkansas, said in the release. “By partnering with Survival Flight, NPMC will not only be able to better serve Hot Springs, but expand to the surrounding areas of Mena, Mt. Ida, and rural south Arkansas. We are dedicated to expanding healthcare services to the communities that we serve, and that’s exactly what this service achieves. Survival Flight is an emergency medical transport company located in Kennett, Mo., that currently has bases in Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma, including our sister hospital, Saint Mary’s in Russellville.”
National Park Medical Center’s helicopter, a Bell 407, is commonly used for medical transport, according to the release. A pilot, flight nurse and flight paramedic will make up the helicopter’s staff.
Andy Goldthorpe, the base clinical manager for Survival Flight 10 – Hot Springs, said in the release that the Bell 407 is quicker and roomier than some other models. The aircraft’s size will allow a paramedic student to sometimes ride along, he said.
“It is equipped with a third seat near the back to occasionally let EMS students fly with us, or in a situation of a juvenile emergency where a parent must ride to the hospital. But it will absolutely be a case-by-case basis,” Goldthorpe said.
Mabry said the flight service is “one more advancement to enhance Emergency Services and the Heart and Vascular Center.”
“We have a new, larger ER featuring four trauma rooms and a state of the art Heart and Vascular Center – now we have an additional method of getting patients the fastest care possible,” he said. “This helicopter service gives us the ability to reach patients in the surrounding rural communities much more quickly, which is especially crucial in the event of a heart attack or stroke.”
