ER at 1,500 Feet: Life Flight Unveils New Helicopter

Feb. 24--TWIN FALLS -- Registered nurse Shelly Robinson undoubtedly has the best office window in town.

"We've got the best views in the Magic Valley when we come up on this," Robinson said Thursday afternoon from her seat in Life Flight's new Eurocopter EC-135. Outside her window was a perfectly gorgeous view of Shoshone Falls.

The $3.2 million bird is one of two new helicopters in Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center's four-helicopter Life Flight fleet, one of which will be based in the Magic Valley. The community got its first look at one of the new helicopters Thursday. Some people even caught a ride.

The twin-engine Eurocopter EC-135 has room for two patients and three specialty crew members, which include a registered nurse and a paramedic. The state-of-the-art helicopter optimizes overall maneuverability, a larger panoramic view for the pilot and crews, the latest air medical technology and fuel efficiency, said Ted Ryan, director of the Saint Alphonsus Life Flight program.

It also unloads more quickly and safely because the aircraft offers rear-loading capabilities as well as side entry, Ryan said. The helicopters include the standard Life Flight safety features, such as night-vision goggles and a satellite tracking communication system. And its enclosed tail rotor system makes the EC-135 much less noisy than Life Flight's older Bell 222.

Chief Pilot Bill Patterson's voice came through the headphones.

"It's just so much quieter," Patterson said as he navigated the helicopter at 150 miles per hour at 1,500 feet. "It will be so much friendlier to the community -- especially at 3 o'clock in the morning."

The EC-135 also is 10 feet shorter than the Bell 222, which makes it easier to maneuver into tight spaces on the ground.

"We rely heavily on people on the ground to bring us down safely," Robinson said. People making space on the ground for an incoming helicopter include firefighters, law enforcement officers and paramedics and emergency medical technicians, she said.

But its also wider than the older helicopters so it can accommodate what Robinson calls a "mini emergency department."

Life Flight's quick response saves lives. A critical patient in the Magic Valley can be on a hospital helicopter pad in Boise in 40 minutes. That same trip would take two hours by ground, Ryan said.

Ryan said the two new helicopters will continue serving the same service region in southern Idaho, eastern Oregon and northern Nevada. In addition to bases in Twin Falls and Boise, Life Flight also maintains and staffs a helicopter full-time in McCall. Life Flight also keeps a fixed-wing airplane at the Boise airport for longer service trips.

A significant portion of the money used to buy the two helicopters came from Life Flight membership funds, according to a hospital news release. More than 80,000 current Life Flight members support the air ambulance service program with annual dues.

Ryan said the purchase of the two helicopters shows that Life Flight is in the Magic Valley to stay.

"It makes a statement that we're fully committed to bringing state-of-the-art equipment to the Magic Valley," Ryan said.

Times-News writer Sandy Miller can be reached at 735-3264 or by e-mail at smiller@magicvalley.com.

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