bchris
Member
Today AirMed had an open house to announce the relocation of one of their helicopters from Timp Hospital in Orem to Mtn View Hospital in Payson.
I arrived too late to hear what they officially said, if anything, about reasons why, but I did have a brief discussion with some of the fight crew. They stated that this will be a much better geographic location, and that Mtn View can accomodate a 24/7 flight crew, while Timp could not house them overnight.
I agree with the better location. This AirMed Heli will be the southern-most unit between Provo and St George. Life Flight is already centrally located within Utah County at UVRMC in Provo, the largest hospital in the area. The Timp location sat between Salt Lake and Provo, at a much smaller facility, in an area that was already well covered by either side.
Highway 6 in Spanish Fork canyon has way, way more than it's share of bad accidents. Hwy 6 also goes West from Santaquin to Eureka, past the sand dunes, Delta, and so on. No big curvy canyons, but some nasty wrecks nonetheless. Sanpete County is also very close for a helicopter to get to through Payson Canyon, but in a car you have to drive around some big mountains, which takes an hour on a good day. There are also quite a few ATV accidents and Search and Rescues in these areas. Then there's always I-15 going south at 75mph, with it's share of medical emergencies.
I think overall this will be a good thing for everyone, except maybe Life Flight, but since we can't hear them on our radios, who cares.
B.Christensen
.
I arrived too late to hear what they officially said, if anything, about reasons why, but I did have a brief discussion with some of the fight crew. They stated that this will be a much better geographic location, and that Mtn View can accomodate a 24/7 flight crew, while Timp could not house them overnight.
I agree with the better location. This AirMed Heli will be the southern-most unit between Provo and St George. Life Flight is already centrally located within Utah County at UVRMC in Provo, the largest hospital in the area. The Timp location sat between Salt Lake and Provo, at a much smaller facility, in an area that was already well covered by either side.
Highway 6 in Spanish Fork canyon has way, way more than it's share of bad accidents. Hwy 6 also goes West from Santaquin to Eureka, past the sand dunes, Delta, and so on. No big curvy canyons, but some nasty wrecks nonetheless. Sanpete County is also very close for a helicopter to get to through Payson Canyon, but in a car you have to drive around some big mountains, which takes an hour on a good day. There are also quite a few ATV accidents and Search and Rescues in these areas. Then there's always I-15 going south at 75mph, with it's share of medical emergencies.
I think overall this will be a good thing for everyone, except maybe Life Flight, but since we can't hear them on our radios, who cares.
B.Christensen
.
