JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Baptist Health is dealing with the growing demands of emergency medical services by expanding its air-ambulance fleet.
On Tuesday, Baptist Health unveiled its newest helicopter, a four-blade, turbine-engine Bell 407.
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As Northeast Florida continues to grow, time and distance can be the difference between life and death following a 911 call for medical help or transferring a critically injured or ill patient from one hospital to the other.
Parker Brigance, director of Baptist Emergency Services, told News4JAX the hospital needed to increase its airborne emergency services to match the amount of growth in Northeast Florida.
“This is all about population growth. We monitor that very closely, and we want to make sure our patients always have access to life-saving equipment and life-saving procedures like this one here. This is more than just a helicopter. It’s more of a commitment to delivering top-notch care, so it’s an investment in our community,” Brigance said.
Alex Thompson is a Baptist Health flight nurse assigned to the new Bell 407 helicopter. He said the air ambulance has nearly everything you would find in an emergency room but on a smaller scale.
Thompson is a part of a flight crew that provides emergency transport services within a 100-mile radius of Jacksonville. The greater the distance from the hospital, the more time it takes to transport patients via ground ambulance.
“We come in and provide a way around dealing with potential issues they may run into, like the trains or the traffic. We get to fly straight here, and it’s great for the patient because we can improve the time to treatment,” Thompson said.
Although Baptist Hospital has a fleet of Bell 407 helicopters, the new chopper is unique because it comes equipped with an upgraded autopilot system that helps. The upgraded system helps to improve safety for everyone onboard by helping pilot Clifford Summers focus on other important things during flight.
“The autopilot can take some of the heavier workload off so I can focus more on traffic, radio calls, and stuff like that, and other threats to us,” Summers said.
The latest helicopter will get a new paint job so that it looks like the other Baptist Health helicopters in the fleet.
But for now, the crew assigned to the new chopper will carry on making sure critically ill or injured patients have a fighting chance to survive.