SANTA ROSA, Calif., July 30, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- REACH Air Medical Services (REACH) announces the expansion of their Northern California emergency helicopter service to include a new base opening in Mendocino County, California. Located at the Willits Municipal Airport known as Ells Field, this base will provide round-the-clock, life‐saving emergency medical services to the community. Patients will be transported in a new Eurocopter EC135 aircraft, which will be dedicated to this market and to the hospitals REACH has been serving for years. REACH flies medical helicopters and planes from more than 20 bases located throughout California, Oregon and Texas.
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"For more than 27 years, REACH has served the communities of the North Coast. Our company founder's vision started with serving the Redwood Empire. In fact, REACH stands for Redwood Empire Air Care Helicopter," says company President Sean Russell. "With this base being located at the center of the Redwood Empire, Mendocino County, we have come full circle." He adds, "While we have been serving this area for many years from bases located in Sonoma and Lake Counties, this base will allow us to better serve customers in this rural area where time-critical transports are essential. The EC135 helicopter was chosen because of its increased capabilities to operate in inclement weather. It also allows us to use our network of company developed and FAA-approved GPS approaches and routes, further enhancing our safety and reliability."
"The choice to open this base in Willits is born out of a need identified through years of serving Mendocino and Humboldt counties," states Anna Blair, Vice President of Business Relations. "We treasure the hospital and pre-hospital staff who we work with every day and are very excited to bring this resource to them."
Patients transported by REACH will be flown in a new, state-of-the-art Eurocopter EC-135 helicopter, capable of airspeeds of 150 miles per hour, operating under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR), equipped with night vision goggles (NVGs) to enhance safety of nighttime operations, as well as helicopter-specific terrain awareness equipment (TAWs). The base will be staffed 24/7 with nationally certified Flight Nurses and Paramedics along with the highly skilled aviation staff and maintenance support. This practice ensures optimum availability and response time when regional medical emergencies occur.
REACH invests in its customers through safety and clinical education training for emergency and hospital personnel throughout Mendocino County, sharing of clinical data and knowledge, and a robust customer service response program aimed at continuous improvement of service.
REACH is part of the AirMedCare Network—the nation's largest emergency air medical transport membership program—which covers out-of-pocket expenses in the event of an emergency air transport by REACH or another AirMedCare Network provider. For a low-cost annual fee, individuals and companies may join more than 1.5 million members who receive coverage from more than 200 air transport locations in 27 states coast to coast.
About REACH Air Medical Services
REACH Medical Holdings, LLC, headquartered in Santa Rosa, CA, operates REACH Air Medical Services and Cal-Ore Life Flight providing critical care air and ground transport service to communities throughout California, Oregon and Southern Texas. REACH has provided safe, patient-centered care for more than 27 years and successfully transported more than 90,000 patients. REACH employs hundreds of highly-trained nurses, medics, pilots and aircraft maintenance technicians to provide service to patients utilizing a fleet of 18 medically equipped helicopters, eight airplanes, and nine ground ambulances. REACH and Cal-Ore Life Flight are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Services (CAMTS), which is the gold standard for patient care and safety for air medical transport services. For more information, visit www.REACHair.com .
About AirMedCare Network
REACH Air Medical Services is part of the AirMedCare Network. AirMedCare is America's largest air medical transport membership network, providing emergency access for the highest level of care for its 1.5 million members. The AirMedCare Network combines the membership programs of many leading air ambulance operators in 27 states from more than 200 air transport locations. For more information about memberships, visit www.airmedcarenetwork.com .
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Anna Blair, VP Business Relations and Development Phone: 707-324-2421 E-mail:
