ST. LOUIS – ARCH Air Medical Service is hosting events all this week to celebrate an important milestone: 45 years of lifesaving service across the bi-state region in cases where there is no time to waste.
“Sometimes a patient reminds you of someone that you know and love or it’s just the nature of the event that does get to you,” ARCH Medical pilot Mike Kerner said.
As the engine fires and the rotors spin, you can bet the work is urgent. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, ARCH Air Medical Service answers a call that few can.
Kerner has been a pilot with ARCH for six years.
“It gets pretty dirty. Not only just providing patient care, but also landing in the middle of nowhere like a muddy field or in the snow,” he said.
St. Louis University Hospital launched ARCH Air Medical in 1979. Air Methods bought ARCH in 2000, then expanded to Springfield, Illinois; Carbondale, Illinois; and Farmington, Missouri.
“We work two 24-hour shifts per week, and then, at our base, we are available on-call until that call comes in,” flight nurse Danica Mainridge said.
According to Mainridge, a flight crew can get as many as three calls per day. It takes up to four hours to fly, treat, and transport a patient. A chopper can also move patients to hospitals with better treatment options.
“We are actually one of the early ones in the industry, in the country, for doing air medical, so it’s a long-standing tradition for both the country and the region,” flight nurse Chase Niewoehner said. He also serves as a clinical base lead for the ARCH station in Granite City.
Niewoehner says it’s imperative to get a patient to a medical center within a golden hour.
“That first hour after the injury is extremely important to get to an operating room to have a good chance of having the best possible outcome and surviving that critical injury,” he said.
ARCH Air Medical Service to celebrate 45 years.
