CRITICAL CARE IN THE AIR: MEDICAL FLIGHT SERVICE HAS NEW QUARTERS AT REGIONAL AIRPORT

In just one day last week, ARCH Air Medical Services personnel cranked up the twin-engine helicopter at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport three times. Within minutes, the chopper was airborne, staffed with a flight nurse and flight paramedic.

"We made three trips to emergency situations that day," said Marty Fowler, communications relations manager of ARCH Air's newest facility.

ARCH Air, which assumed operations of Southeast Missouri Hospital's LifeBeat service in July 2000, has moved into new quarters at the airport here.

ARCH covers a 150-mile radius. The company held an official grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new base recently.

The large hangar houses quarters for the crew and a site for maintenance of the helicopters.

"The location is handy," said Fowler. "We have quick access to fuel and maintenance services."

"We've averaging about 45 flights a month," said Fowler. ARCH Air also offers a fixed-wing service, which is based at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, Mo.

Serving the states

The company has facilities at five locations in Missouri and Illinois Cape Girardeau, Joplin, downtown St. Louis, Spirit of St. Louis Airport and Sparta, Ill., serving all hospitals in 169 counties in the two states.

Another Illinois location will be opening soon at Litchfield, said Fowler.

ARCH Air employs 11 crewmen and four pilots in the Cape Girardeau base.

Each of the three crews includes a pilot, flight nurse and flight paramedic. In addition, ARCH provides maintenance personnel, with 24-hour dispatch and communications.

Dispatch to the Cape Girardeau base is via the telephone number. ARCH Air is one of two air medical services based in Cape Girardeau, along with Air Evac Aviation.

The ARCH Air Medical Services Inc., critical care air ambulance, has been providing air medical operations in the U.S. since March 1979.

The program started as Medical Air Rescue Corps (MARC), and was based at St. Louis University Medical Center.

ARCH came into being in 1987. The structure of the company was changed to a not-for-profit consortium, sponsored by St. Louis' three adult trauma centers -- Barnes Hospital, St. John's Mercy Medical Center and St. Louis University Medical center -- taking on the name, Area Rescue Consortium of Hospitals (ARCH).

In 1980, the company was acquired by Mercy Air, a nationally-known air ambulance transportation provider with regional services in Southern California, Nevada and the St. Louis area.

ARCH was established in 1979. Since then, the company has completed more than 36,000 missions.

Flight history

Air medical services have been around more than century, but it wasn't until 1950 that U.S. helicopter ambulance units really kicked things off with operations during the Korean War.

As early as 1870, hot-air balloons were used to evacuate the wounded during the Prussian siege of Paris. During World War I and World War II, fixed-wing aircraft was used to transfer the wounded. And, in 1928, fixed-wing planes were used by the Marine Corps to evacuate wounded in Nicaragua.

The first helicopter ambulance unit started operations in Korea in 1950. Before the end of the Korean War in 1953, more than 17,000 casualties were air-lifted by helicopters, used to rapidly transport wounded soldier from the battlefield to field hospitals in minutes.

Military medics were the principal care providers on the evacuation helicopters. Once initially treated at field hospitals, some patients were later transferred to larger facilities in Southeast Asia and the U.S. with military flight nurses on large fixed-wing aircraft.

The military concept, which continued through the Vietnam War, filtered into civilian practices in the mid-to-late 1960s with several private and public services operating helicopter and fixed transport services.

The first formal hospital-based helicopter transport service was initiated in October 1972 at St. Anthony's Hospital in Denver, Colo. A dozen years later, there were approximately 120 hospital-based air medical services in the United States, providing services within 130-mile radius from the facilities. Today, there are more than 160 air medical services.