Second air ambulance set for LV

Art Nadler

Wednesday, May 20, 1998 | 10:15 a.m.

Don't be surprised next month by a military-style helicopter hovering in the skies above Las Vegas.

Mercy Air Services of Fontana, Calif., will become the second air-ambulance company to service the Southern Nevada market on June 1. Valley Hospital's Flight for Life helicopter is currently the only air-ambulance service available.

The company affiliate in Southern Nevada will be called Clark County AirLife. It will serve a 150-mile radius from Las Vegas.

University Medical Center's board of trustees on Monday authorized the hospital to provide nursing staff for the 11-passenger Bell 412 helicopter.

According to David Dolstein, chief executive officer of Mercy Air, the helicopter will normally transport one patient and carry a critical-care nurse, paramedic and flight crew. But with its large cargo space, it also will be capable of carrying speciality personnel such as neonatal and heart teams.

"We think with the size (of Las Vegas' population), there should be a change in the air ambulance industry," Dolstein said. "Helicopters won't benefit urban areas that much, but will in the rural communities."

Dolstein said that, nationally, 40 percent of helicopter transports are in response to 911 emergency calls. The majority of transports involve inter-facility transfers between medical facilities. This would include the airlifting of patients with serious health problems, such as cardiac patients who require constant monitoring by a specialty team.

Dolstein said Clark County AirLife's helicopter will be based either at an airport or fire station. It will respond only if called by a 911 operator or for an inter-facility transfer, he said.

The company, Dolstein said, will not be affiliated with any specific hospital and will deliver patients to all medical facilities.

"With our growing population," William Hale, chief executive officer of UMC, said, "this will ensure adequate coverage in the future."

On May 1, Valley Hospital expanded its emergency-care service to Pahrump, Beatty and Amargosa Valley by stationing one of its two Flight for Life helicopters at the Pahrump Medical Center.

According to Ed Sharp, secretary-treasurer of the Pahrump Hospital Medical Board, Flight for Life had been coming to the area more than 20 times a month to transport patients to Las Vegas.