EagleMed Adds New Medically Equipped Eurocopter AStar to Modern Fleet

EagleMed LLC critical care air medical transport will take delivery of a new Eurocopter AS350 AStar helicopter, outfitted by Metro Aviation Inc. with the most advanced aviation technology and latest life-saving medical equipment.

This new helicopter joins EagleMed’s state-of-the-art emergency air medical transport fleet dedicated to serving rural America. EagleMed selected the Eurocopter AS350 AStar, a field-proven and highly dependable aircraft, as an integral step in the company’s continuing modernization of its air medical transport fleet.

“Acquisition of this new helicopter with the latest in aviation and emergency life-saving technologies is part of an ongoing commitment to providing safe, world-class patient care,” says EagleMed president Larry Bugg.

Metro Aviation, of Shreveport, LA configured the AStar’s medical interior, which includes a quick-change litter, a transfill oxygen system, medical inverter system, and flip-up seats enhancing the aircraft’s versatility.

The AS350 is also equipped with night vision and Cobham’s HeliSAS digital autopilot. The integrated system dramatically reduces pilot workload during demanding special mission applications.

“We choose Metro Aviation to medically configure all of our AS350 AStar aircraft for critical care air medical transports because it is a proven partner that consistently delivers exceptional workmanship and quality customer care,” Bugg says.

Additionally, in October EagleMed observed its 10th anniversary of service from Joplin, MO. EagleMed bases a twin-engine medically equipped Eurocopter AS355N in Joplin to support Freeman Health System serving Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

The helicopter is based at Freeman Hospital West, which has two helipads located outside Freeman Heart & Vascular Institute and a helipad with direct elevator access to state-of-the-art emergency room trauma bays.

“Freeman Health System’s role in our community is very clear—to provide quality, innovative lifesaving care. This mission is often made possible because of the experience and efficiency of EagleMed staff,” says Freeman president and chief executive officer Paula Baker.

 “Accidents occur without warning, and these past 10 years EagleMed has joined Freeman in saving countless individuals whose lives have been touched unexpectedly by such tragedy. We are proud of the care we have given alongside EagleMed staff and look forward to saving countless more lives,” she says.

 “We have been privileged for the past 10 years to provide essential critical care air medical transport services in partnership with Freeman Health System and the surrounding communities,” says EagleMed president Larry Bugg. “It is a perfect relationship in that we share the common values of safety, world-class patient care, caring for each other and the patients and communities we serve.”

 Based in Joplin, the fourth largest metropolitan area in Missouri, Freeman Health System is a 404-bed, three-hospital system providing comprehensive healthcare and behavioral health services to an area that includes more than 450,000 residents from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.

 EagleMed’s air medical transport operations have entered the second level of the voluntary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Safety Management System (SMS), demonstrating the company’s ongoing commitment to advancements in safety. By adopting SMS as a higher standard for safety in air medical transport services, EagleMed is working to enhance the well-being of patients and EagleMed crewmembers.

EagleMed maintains a fully staffed, technologically advanced, 24-hour communications center in Wichita. The company operates state-of-the-art aircraft equipment and modern, up-to-date clinical equipment.

EagleMed’s senior leadership has a combined total of 150 years of aviation safety experience. The company’s employees received the 2010 President’s Award for safety from the Association of Air Medical Services, the 2011 Safety Award from the Helicopter Association International, were recognized by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Services (CAMTS) in 2012 for a Best Practice in Just Culture, and received the National EMS Pilots Association 2012 Pilot of the Year Award.