Hospital-run medical flight service begins next week

Promising high-quality, cost-effective air medical transport services, Cody Regional Health and St. Vincent Healthcare intend to launch their First Flight of Wyoming program on Sunday, Oct. 1, with South Big Horn County Airport in Greybull serving as base of operations.
Phillip Franklin, the Cody Regional Health EMS director, said two years of planning have gone into the launch.
"We started having internal discussions about it six or seven years ago when we were hearing patients in communities talking about the high cost of air medical transport," he said. "It eventually got to the point where we decided it would be the best thing for them to provide a more affordable service."
First Flight of Wyoming charges 30% to 40% less than private, for-profit air medical transport services, according to a release from Cody Regional Health and St. Vincent Healthcare, which is now part of the Intermountain Health network.
The service will roll out with limited hours of 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 1 before transitioning to 24/7 service on Wednesday, Nov. 1.
When that happens, First Flight will become the only hospital-owned flight program in the Cowboy State.
Cody Regional Health operates the largest EMS network in northern Wyoming, while St. Vincent Healthcare has operated HELP Flight, an air medical transport program, for over 40 years. Together, the two organizations aim to strengthen and sustain EMS services in northern Wyoming.  Both organizations are dedicated to expanding access to care and finding solutions to help ease the way for patients, so they can receive the medical treatment and services they need. 
First Flight of Wyoming will be utilized to transport adult and pediatric patients with medical illness or trauma-related injuries from hospitals, clinics and accident scenes.
Franklin said Cody Regional Health has been renting a hangar at the Greybull airport for a year in anticipation of the service's launch.  Its flight crew will consist of flight registered nurses, flight paramedics, flight communications specialists, pilots and mechanics.  The flight RNs and paramedics are specially trained and experienced in critical care and emergency pre-hospital transport. This team is trained to provide care to adult as well as pediatric patients.
The First Flight air medical program includes a helicopter, which responds to an emergency call as soon as it is received. The helicopter, a Bell 407, is a fully equipped air ambulance that accommodates a patient, two medical attendants and the pilot.
The aircraft and crew are located at the Greybull airport, which will allow timely response times to hospitals throughout the Big Horn Basin. The helicopter can reach any hospital in the Big Horn Basin within about 40 minutes.  Expected flight times from the Greybull airport are as follows:  Lovell, 11 minutes; Worland, 14 minutes; Powell, 15 minutes; Cody, 19 minutes; Sheridan, 21 minutes; Thermopolis, 22 minutes;  Buffalo, 26 minutes; Red Lodge, Mont., 29 minutes; and Dubois, 39 minutes.  To Billings, it's 41 minutes.
To contact First Flight of Wyoming to arrange a flight, please call 1-833-FLY-FFOW (1-833-359-3369).