EIRMC celebrates expansion of helicopter pad

3 weeks ago

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Published astatine 2:53 pm, September 5, 2024

Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center successful Idaho Falls precocious launched a 3rd chopper pad. Take a look successful nan video above. | Rett Nelson, EastIdahoNews.com

IDAHO FALLS – Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center successful Idaho Falls now has a 3rd chopper pad.

Members of nan infirmary trauma team, pilots and aesculapian unit pinch Air Idaho Rescue and others gathered astatine nan pad for a little ceremony Thursday morning.

Construction connected nan caller pad sewage underway this summertime and went into cognition Aug. 16.

Michael Lemon, nan hospital’s trauma aesculapian director, tells EastIdahoNews.com location person already been instances wherever each 3 chopper pads person been utilized simultaneously.

Before nan pad description , Lemon says helicopters would often onshore connected nan writer aliases successful nan parking lot. He’s thrilled an further pad is now available.

“Our trauma measurement has accrued by astir 12% each year. I’ve been successful my domiciled for nan past 7 years and we mostly spot an summation each azygous year,” Lemon says.

The summation successful emergency trauma cases is owed to maturation successful nan area complete nan past respective years.

In 2023, location were 36,000 ER visits to EIRMC. Of those, 1,820 were trauma activations — meaning a trauma squad was activated to respond. In June 2024, location were 256 trauma activations — nan hospital’s highest-month ever.

“Very terrible trauma patients are ending up present and astir half of those severely injured patients travel to america by helicopter,” Lemon told nan crowd Thursday.

EIRMC useful pinch respective emergency aesculapian chopper companies. Air Idaho Rescue has a chopper astatine EIRMC year-round. It besides has a fixed-wing airplane astatine nan Idaho Falls Regional Airport 24/7.

RELATED | I flew pinch Air Idaho Rescue for a day. Here’s what I learned.

Marshall Murdock has been a chopper aviator for Air Idaho for nan past 5 years. Seeing 3 helicopters onshore astatine nan infirmary each astatine erstwhile is simply a reasonably regular occurrence, he says, and nan summation of a 3rd pad is “a awesome addition” to nan community.

“It’s a awesome use to everyone present to judge helicopters arsenic they travel successful without having them orbit aliases hold astatine nan airdrome aliases hold diligent care,” Murdock says. “It was a needed summation and I’m really gladsome they did it.”

Air Idaho Rescue has airbases successful Driggs, Salmon and West Yellowstone, which is only successful cognition during nan summertime months. These locations, on pinch nan Idaho Falls location, are often used.

Though Air Idaho is engaged year-round, Murdock says nan summertime months thin to beryllium nan busiest clip of year.

“Trauma play is what we telephone it,” Murdock says. “During nan summer, it tin double aliases triple what we usually fly.”

RELATED | Air Idaho Rescue now carrying full humor connected each flight

ATV and conveyance accidents are a communal business to which Air Idaho Rescue responds. Those who deterioration seatbelts, helmets and lifejackets importantly trim their chances of a awesome injury, says Murdock.

As maturation continues to occur, Lemon says it’s only a matter of clip earlier a 4th pad is needed.

“This has only been unfastened a period and we’ve already had 3 helicopters astatine 1 clip connected this pad. We foresee nan summation successful measurement continuing to spell up,” says Lemon.