Life Flight Marks 30 Years of Service in Utah - Intermountain Healthcare’s Life Flight air ambulance service has announced it will spread its wings to include a helicopter based at St. George’s Dixie Regional Medical Center. It will be the service’s fifth helicopter, and will complement the Life Flight fixed-wing aircraft currently stationed in southern Utah.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Intermountain Life Flight has transported over 62,000 patients nearly 7.4 million miles since it first began operation on July 6, 1978. It was the seventh dedicated helicopter service in the nation, the first in the state of Utah, and continues to average more than 10 patients a day, half of which are children.
“It’s been tremendously gratifying to be a part of this service,” said William Butts, a former Life Flight helicopter pilot and the program’s current director of operations. “Flying in Utah is every bit as challenging as my years in the Army, but this job has amazing perks. To be trusted and able to take a sick baby from her parents’ arms and deliver her safely to a physician is an incredible feeling. Transporting a person from the scene of a life-threatening accident to a hospital where someone will save their life—there just isn’t a more rewarding job in the world.”
Life Flight helicopters are designed to handle high-altitude flights as well as maneuver in Utah’s rugged terrain and extreme climate. A locally based Life Flight helicopter will greatly speed the delivery of lifesaving services for patients in southern Utah, giving them the best chance for survival, recovery and a healthy future. This “mobile ICU” will:
*Reduce response and transport time of the critically ill or injured
*Provide rescue in remote areas not accessible to fixed wing aircraft or ground ambulance
*Eliminate the need for access to airport facilities for transport, saving 30 minutes or more
*Provide the best chance of survival and recovery because care is delivered in-flight and on-site regardless of location
*Enhance the overall level of care and quality of life for neighbors and friends in the southern Utah region
“Intermountain expects to spend close to $7 million to introduce this new rotary-wing air ambulance to our region,” said Kerry Hepworth, president of the Foundation of Dixie Regional Medical Center. “We have been tasked to raise $2.3 million of that locally. Life Flight will be the prime initiative of the 2008 Jubilee of Trees. We expect to be prepared to launch Life Flight helicopter service at Dixie in the next two to three years.”
The Jubilee of Trees benefits communities of southern Utah with support that strengthens the hospital’s charitable mission. In cooperation with community partners and thousands of volunteers, the Jubilee has created a gift of miracles, raising millions of dollars over the past several years. Key initiatives have included the Jubilee Home II charitable lodging facility, newborn intensive care, maternal fetal medicine, cancer services, and over $500,000 to help build and equip the new Dixie Regional Medical Center on River Road.
The Foundation of Dixie Regional Medical Center is a Utah nonprofit corporation dedicated to inspiring giving to support Dixie Regional Medical Center with the intent of realizing a common dream—excellent healthcare close to home to save and comfort lives—regardless of means.
For more information about donating to local healthcare, please contact the Foundation at 435-251-2482 or online at www.dixieregional.org/foundation.
