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See ARCH Helicopter @ Radio Reference.com |
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ARCH
Air Medical Service, Inc. |
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462.95 |
[Main
Dispatch] |
PS |
WPCH899 |
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FB2-100wt |
4
air/helicopters, 15 vehicles |
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155.34 |
[HEAR
340/MERCI-1] |
PS |
WPCH899 |
|
15-110wt |
|
118.8pL
Barnes |
2/7/01 |
|
453.0125 |
[Mobile
Extenders] |
PS |
WPCH899 |
|
1
2wt |
|
|
|
|
122.9 |
[ARCH Helipad/Unicom] |
A |
WSY7 |
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MV05
?????? zero |
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123.0 |
[Helicopter-to-Helicopter] |
A |
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heard to AirEvac |
5/26/02 |
|
123.02 |
[Helicopter-to-Helicopter] |
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|
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|
|
heard |
6/03/02 |
|
123.025 |
[Helicopter-to-Helicopter] |
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|
|
|
|
heard dispatcher talking about |
2/4/01 |
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461.525 |
[Dispatch] |
IG |
WPLR946 |
|
15-10wt |
FB2-100wt |
change repeater
locations 32kmra |
9/14/02 |
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|
|
|
|
|
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|
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466.525 |
2207
Scott Ave - St. Louis |
IG |
WPLR946 |
|
|
2 FX1-100wt |
repeater (input) |
8/8/01 |
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461.25 |
1
Barnes Hospital, St. Louis |
IG |
WPLR946 |
|
|
FX0- |
(Also Special School District) have heard voice from ARCH |
8/8/01 |
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(467.075) |
1
Barnes Hospital - St. L MO |
IG |
No
Lic |
|
|
(FX1-100wt) |
input
for Litchfield Repeater IN USE |
8/8/01 |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
462.075 |
[Central
IL Base] |
IG |
WPLR946 |
|
15-10wt |
107.2pL |
90.35a4 |
1/27/03 |
|
452.125 |
1
Barnes Hospital, St. Louis |
IG |
WPLR946 |
|
|
FX0-2wt |
for repeater on KQK664 |
9/14/02 |
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452.175 |
1
Barnes Hospital, St. Louis |
IG |
WPLR946 |
|
|
FX0-2wt |
approved, prev shown deleted |
10/3/01 |
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461.725 |
ARCH
base, ARCH 1 |
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|
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192.8pL |
aircraft talking about EMS/Abbottt?? Also Special School District of St. Louis |
2/5/01 |
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462.95 |
[Lifebeat
Dispatch] |
PW |
WNJN974 |
1-100wt |
5-50wt |
[FB2??] |
Tone37 |
7/27/02 |
|
464.475 |
Southeast
Missouri Hospital |
IG |
WPFU313 |
|
(10-30wt) |
FB2-30wt |
314-334-3825 |
2/19/02 |
EDITOR’S
NOTE: This is the first article in a two-part series about ARCH Air
Medical Service.
When seconds
count in life-or-death emergencies, the importance of having
state-of-the art air medical service is incalculable.
"The
service ARCH Air Medical Service provides is invaluable," said
Julie Smith, director of nursing at Jersey Community Hospital.
"And there has not been one patient that has not been
appreciative of being flown in an emergency rather than taken by ambulance."
Most area
hospitals and first responders use ARCH to transport critically
injured or ill patients to trauma or specialty centers in Missouri.
The program
began as Medical Air Rescue Corps in 1979 and was based at St. Louis
University Hospital. In August 1987, it became a not-for-profit
consortium sponsored by Barnes Hospital, St. John’s Mercy
Medical Center and St. Louis University Hospital, and the name was
changed to Area Rescue Consortium of Hospitals -- known as ARCH. In
April 2000, Air Methods Corp. of Englewood, Colo., purchased ARCH.
The success of
the consortium is what forced it to expand, then to sell.
"ARCH
became so busy that they realized they needed to expand the
consortium," said Matt Kasten, ARCH senior communications
manager. "They decided to sell the consortium because it was
becoming very costly. A used helicopter cost about $2 million and a
new one almost $5 million."
Today, ARCH is
the region’s only nationally accredited air medical program of
its kind and has completed more than 36,000 missions. Headquartered
in St. Louis, it has a fully computerized dispatch center, the
country’s largest single fleet of BK-117 medical helicopters and
a federally certified maintenance facility.
It also has an
unsurpassed safety record, Kasten said. Each air medical flight is
staffed with qualified registered nurses, paramedics or specialists
responding from one of six bases in Warrenton, Mo., Sullivan, Mo.,
Cape Girardeau, Mo., St. Louis, Sparta, Ill., and Litchfield, Ill.
"ARCH
medical transport has been in business for over 24 years and has been
accident-free, which is almost unheard of in air medical services and
is a wonderful record we are very proud of, " Kasten said
He attributes
the safety record to the high level of training required for
mechanics, technicians and pilots.
ARCH is
accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport
Systems, a national process that focuses on quality of patient care
and safety of transport equipment.
"Our
pilots are the best of the best," Kasten said. "And ARCH is
also very unique in that we have flight crews with specialized
high-level critical care training."
Flight teams
are a resource for ground paramedics, he said. When crews arrive on a
scene, they have the equipment and the professionals necessary for
critical care assessment and treatment in flight.
Whether
emergency care is required because of an accident or illness, the
need to get speedy specialized care is paramount.
"We have
always had excellent response time from ARCH," said Marilyn
Fischer, emergency services manager at Alton Memorial Hospital.
"And when you have a critically ill or injured patient, the need
to get them to a trauma center in timely fashion is critical. You
wouldn’t even consider sending them to St. Louis by ambulance
during rush hour."
Kasten said
ARCH’s average response time from St. Louis to Alton is 12
minutes. After receiving a call, a crew is airbound within 5 minutes,
22 seconds.
"ARCH has
a high volume of patients from Alton and Maryville -- Anderson
Hospital in Maryville and Saint Anthony’s and Alton Memorial.
That is a positive for the Alton area citizens as it shows they
receive the best level of care when the area physicians determine
it’s a critical care situation."
ARCH responds
to a call from emergency first responders such as EMS personnel,
firefighters, law enforcement agencies and hospitals within a
150-mile radius of their bases, but crews only fly when weather
conditions permit.
Kasten and Bob
Abrams, ARCH community relations manager, stressed that ARCH works
only in conjunction with local hospitals, EMS and fire and police
agencies. When called, ARCH aircraft will be en route to the scene,
remain on standby or return to base if the referring agency cancels
the call. Patients are charged only when actual transpiration is provided.
"ARCH is
called only when our referring professionals deem it necessary,"
Abrams said. "The cost of each flight varies some dependent upon
distance, but the ballpark figure is between $5,000 and $7,000."
Some insurance
companies will cover the cost of such flights, yet others will not,
research shows. Be that as it may, most patients are glad to have the
resource available.
"As long
as I can remember, we have been using their service," Fischer
said. "We have never had a bad comment about ARCH or about bad
service. Due to ARCH’s safety record, and seeing the
professional level of their medical flight crews, we are comfortable
sending our patients with them."
Smith said
Jersey Community Hospital is also confident in ARCH’s
capabilities to provide safe transport and critical care emergency treatment.
"We are a
small rural community. There are some things we can’t take care
of because we are not a trauma center," Smith said. "By
land ambulance, it would take at least 40 minutes to get a patient
needing trauma care or perhaps cardiac care to St. Louis, and with
ARCH, they can be landing in St. Louis in 12 to 14 minutes. In a
motor vehicle accident, or with a pediatric case, ARCH can land right
at the scene of an accident. The patient will get to the necessary
destination within a few minutes.
"I
can’t say enough about the service ARCH provides," Smith
said. "They are very responsive to us; when we call, they come."
ARCH has not
stopped growing apparently. The service, in conjunction with Carle
Foundation Hospital, which provides air medical transport in the East
Central Illinois region, is soon to have another base in Effingham.
And in May of
this year, ARCH launched the "Kid Copter," a specially
designed aircraft that provides transportation for the critical care
pediatric and neonatal transport teams in the St. Louis region.
The specialty
aircraft is staffed around the clock by a trained emergency medical
service pilot and is available to provide emergency transport for
critically ill infants and children within minutes of a call.
ARCH provides
exclusive air medical transport for pediatric and neonatal teams from
Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, St. John’s Mercy
Medical Center in Creve Coeur and St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Next: The
people whose lives have been touched speak out.
maggieborman@hotmail.com