Care Flight expands Fallon service hours

Care Flight is expanding its hours of service of the emergency medical helicopter based at Banner Churchill Community Hospital to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Since April 2015, the helicopter has been available at the hospital 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

“This change will meet the growing health care needs of visitors and residents in this thriving community,” said Markus Dorsey-Hirt, clinical manager for Care Flight. “The expanded coverage will allow Care Flight to service the area to assist patients living in Churchill County and surrounding communities with lifesaving treatment and even quicker transport. We are honored to partner even more extensively with Banner Churchill Community Hospital and EMS.”

This specialized critical care helicopter program supports and assists Banner Churchill Community Hospital, regional emergency medical services, fire departments and law enforcement agencies with care and transport for critically ill or injured patients in rural areas. This 24-hour service in Churchill County will make the transfer of critical patients out of the emergency room as well as scene response much faster. It will be readily available when a patient requires further medical assistance at a tertiary hospital in Reno, or for transports to other hospitals as far as in the Bay Area.

Care Flight is a program of REMSA, the Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority. It has been caring for citizens of northern Nevada and eastern California for 35 years, celebrating its anniversary in 2016.

“We take great pride in quality and compassionate care we provide to patients who come to our Emergency department,” said Hoyt Skabelund, Banner Churchill Community Hospital chief executive officer. “When a person’s illness or injury requires that he or she be transferred to another hospital for specialized care, we want to make sure we’re working with the best team – that the patient is in good hands.”

On average, there are approximately 300 patients that are transported out of Churchill County per year. Patients have been taken as far as San Francisco for specialty care. Recently, Care Flight has taken some patients to UC Davis for burn care.