Air Care expands local transport hours
Monday, May 12, 2008
WEST CHESTER TWP. — A local medical facility is increasing the amount of hours it will provide emergency medical helicopter transportation to the growing populations of Butler and Warren counties.
University Hospital has offered Air Care out of University Pointe in West Chester Twp. for 12 hours a day the past six years, said Dudley Smith, administrative director for University Hospital's Air Care and Mobile Care.
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But on May 1, Air Care began operating 24 hours a day out of the site, which is located between Interstate 75 and Voice of America Park.
"We've been keeping really busy," Smith said, noting the first day of 24-hour operations saw two calls for service that would have been missed had Air Care not boosted its hours of operation from the site
The moves means University Hospital has two such sites available at all times, one in Butler County and the other at University Hospital itself.
University Hospital began offering Air Care in 1984. The program is among only 4 percent of such medical helicopter programs nationwide that staffs an emergency physician on each flight, Smith said.
"We've transported over 25,000 patients and every one of (the helicopters) has had a physician on board," he said.
University Hospital is anticipating a 10 percent increase above its existing volume of calls as a result of the expanded coverage, he said. The helicopter and its landing pad are scheduled to relocate a quarter-mile south when West Chester Medical Center opens in 2009.
