Hello, Flathead Valley. The last couple of sunny days have brought with them a series of helicopters overhead while I’ve been working from home. While I haven’t done the legwork to figure out who’s in them or why they’re disturbing my curated bubble of a workspace, based on my glances up I’ve eliminated the Advanced Life-Support and Emergency Rescue Team (A.L.E.R.T.) program from the list of possibilities, as the choppers are not bright A.L.E.R.T. red.
A.L.E.R.T., however, is looking at adding another helicopter to the ranks of their air ambulance fleet (it, too, is likely to be red). Last year, the program celebrated 50 years of providing air transport for medical emergencies across northwest Montana as America’s first rural air ambulance. The program currently has two Bell 407 helicopters, a fixed-wing transport plane at the airport, and a ground ambulance service.
At Logan Health Foundation’s annual fundraising banquet for the program earlier this month, A.L.E.R.T. leaders announced that they had their eyes on acquiring a Bell 429 helicopter. The banquet also brought in a record-setting $755,897 for the program, exceeding its goal by over $100,000.
“This is an exciting step forward for the ALERT program and for the patients and families we serve,” foundation president Michael Barth said. “Investments like this help ensure we can continue delivering the highest level of care, wherever it’s needed.”
The Bell 429 is significantly larger than the program’s two single-engine helicopters and would allow space for nurses and paramedics to care for a patient during transport. Currently, medical staff must stabilize patients before transport due to the aircrafts’ tight quarters, and parents or loved ones must stay behind as the helicopters only have enough room to pick up a single patient.
“It’s very hard to explain to a parent why you can’t come with your child,” neonatal-pediatric flight nurse Stacey Verhoeven said in a promo video Logan Health made to announce the new chopper. “I can’t imagine putting my child in a helicopter and being like, ‘we’ll see you in three hours.’”
The Bell 429’s space would allow room for a family member to join during transport when necessary, and allow medical staff to stabilize patients in flight, cutting down transport time to the hospital. The twin-engine helicopter would also allow room for flight nurses to carry more medical equipment onboard, bolstering the air ambulance program’s in-flight capabilities.
Barth said Thursday that the foundation still needs to raise $2 million for the helicopter. The foundation already has some funding for it, and some will also come from trading in the old Bell 407. Depending on how fundraising goes, Barth said ideally they hope to try and purchase the helicopter by next year’s A.L.E.R.T. banquet.
I’m Zoë Buhrmaster. Let’s see what else is flying around the Flathead Valley.
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