REACH Air Medical Services Announces New Air Ambulance Base in Willits, CA
REACH Air Medical Services (REACH) announces the expansion of its Northern California emergency helicopter service to include a new base opening in Mendocino County, CA. Located at the Willits Municipal Airport known as Ells Field, this base will provide round-the-clock, lifesaving 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.
“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.
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