|
Air Evac Lifeteam Now Serving Vidalia, Georgia
Air Evac Lifeteam, an independently-owned air ambulance provider, has expanded its service area in Georgia with the opening of a base in Vidalia. Air Evac Lifeteam crews provide on-the-scene medical care and rapid transport to medical facilities.
The base is temporarily located at 2915 Airport Drive, but will soon have a permanent facility on the grounds of new Meadows Regional Medical Center. The Vidalia base is one of 90 bases in Air Evac Lifeteam’s network of air ambulance services and its fourth in Georgia. Other Georgia bases are located in Cordele, Ware County, and Columbus. The new base will provide employment for 12 to 15 individuals and serve communities within a 70-mile radius of Vidalia.
An Air Evac Lifeteam crew, which includes a registered nurse, paramedic and pilot, is on call at each base 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Crew members are trained in advanced pre-hospital care in order for medical care to begin at the scene and continue en route to the hospital. This same training also allows for critical care hospital-to-hospital transfers. The Vidalia helicopter is also equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment, including the use of NVGs (Night Vision Goggles). NVGs are particularly useful on nights with little illumination in identifying emergency scene landing zones in difficult terrain, such as mountains and hills, by raising night-time vision to 20/20.
Air Evac Lifeteam, headquartered in West Plains, Mo., is the largest independently-owned air ambulance service in the country. Since its founding in 1985, Air Evac has transported more than 200,000 patients in need, serving as the critical link to improved response time and immediate access to medical care facilities across 14 states.
“We are very pleased to be located in Vidalia,” said Air Evac Lifeteam President Seth Myers. “This is a great addition to the already quality health services available in this area. We would like to thank Meadows Regional Medical Center, County and City Officials, Airport management and officials, and the residents of Vidalia and the surrounding counties, for their support in the opening of this base. We look forward to working with them in serving their patients.”
Myers said the company is excited about expanding its service area into Vidalia. “Our mission is to save lives and positively impact outcomes during life-or-limb-threatening medical emergencies, and we can do this by providing rapid access to definitive emergency health care,” said Myers. “Our goal is to provide quality health care to area residents, and we have unwavering dedication to our mission.
“The opening of this base is part of an ever-expanding commitment by Air Evac Lifeteam and the health care community in this region to improve access to trauma care for residents of southern Georgia,” he added. “The people of this region are very fortunate to have access to quality health care services through their local hospitals and EMS providers. Our goal is to be an extension of that excellent service by providing rapid transport in critical medical situations.”
Air Evac Lifeteam was one of the first air ambulance services 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 throughout 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.
|
|