ROGERS — An expanding program at Mercy Medical Center and a vote by the City Council could mean two medical helicopters will be based in Rogers.
A contract on Tuesday’s council agenda would permit MedFlight, a program of Air Method of Englewood, Colo., to house its flight crew at Fire Station No. 3, 1 West Etris Drive, at Rogers Municipal Airport.
At A Glance
Accident Locations
A recent review of Rogers accidents where firefighters spent significant time at the scene showed several severe accidents clustered on the east side of town. The 2009-13 report lists:
• 30 incidents on Interstate 540 and 27 on Eighth Street in Rogers.
• 18 accidents on New Hope Road and 15 on Hudson Road.
Source: Rogers Fire Department
Meeting Information
Council Agenda
Rogers' City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers, 301 W. Chestnut St. Enter through the northeast door.
On the agenda:
• Selling four retired police vehicles.
• 2014 plan for Rogers Community Development Block Grant.
• A contract amendment for trail renovation at Lake Atalanta.
• A contract to build a $30,000 concession and maintenance building at Veterans Park.
Source: Staff Report
The company is searching for a new location as Mercy Northwest Arkansas officials plan to bring an in-house medical flight program to Rogers.
Fire Chief Tom Jenkins said the move will benefit Rogers. Station No. 3 houses three firefighters, but has six bedrooms, Jenkins said.
The arrangement before City Council will allow MedFlight to rent the other three bedrooms for $500 a month.
Having the helicopter stationed at the airport makes it a strategic location for patients coming from Beaver Lake or eastern Benton County, Jenkins said.
“Those patients wait longer for service, and they have the opportunity to become more critical before our arrival,” he said.
A traumatic head injury from a fall or a severe injury from a car wreck needs the immediate attention of a Trauma I center. The closest Trauma I centers are in Tulsa, Okla., Springfield, Mo., and Little Rock, Jenkins said.
“It’s better to take 10 extra minutes and get them to the right place than to get them to the wrong place,” he said.
There are three MedFlight bases: in Joplin, Nevada, Mo., and Rogers, said Rod Pace manager of MedFlight,.
Moving to the Rogers Municipal Airport makes sense for MedFlight, Pace said. The helicopter was hangared at the facility when it wasn’t at the hospital. Maintenance and fuel are also at the airport, and the crew had to travel from the hospital for both. Headquartering at the fire station will make operations more efficient.
“It’s expensive to start up a helicopter,” Pace said.
The service started in Rogers in March. Pace said he was told in May that Mercy was going in a different direction and hospitals in both Rogers and Joplin would no longer host MedFlight. The MedFlight office in Joplin finished moving to the Joplin Regional Airport on Friday
The data the company gathered as part of their regional business plan convinced officials of Rogers’ growth potential. MedFlight offers memberships through OmniAdvantage. Pace said Friday he didn’t know the number of memberships, but there were about 170 flights, both transport and at emergency scenes, between March and October.
“We’re here to stay. We’re not dropping in to sample it and see how it goes,” Pace said.
When the Spirit of Mercy MedFlight program launched it exceeded expectation, said Jessica Eldred, spokeswoman for Mercy Northwest Arkansas.
Mercy will have it’s own medical flight program, called Mercy Life Line, based at the hospital by the end of the month, Eldred said.
“It’s a lot of pluses for us to make this move,” she said.
A more formal launch of the program will be scheduled later.
If the MedFlight program moves to the airport after the Mercy Life Line program launches there will be three medical flight programs in Northwest Arkansas. Air Evac Lifeteam is in Springdale.
Because the Life Line program is 100 percent Mercy it will allow crew members to work in emergency services when they are not flying, Eldred said.
Determining which flight programs is dispatched is decided based on how fast they can arrive, the capabilities of the aircraft and the training of the crew, Pace said. MedFlight crews have advanced cardiology training for transporting critical heart patients, he said.
The Mercy Life Line program will serve not only Mercy, but the Interstate 540 corridor, Eldred said. Memberships will also be available for the Mercy program.
“Being able to have that access is important and lifesaving,” Eldred said.