HealthNet Stations Helicopter in Upshur
By GARY MALLONEE, Staff WriterArticle Photos
HealthNet now has six helicopters stationed throughout West Virginia and the newest base is located at the Upshur County Regional Airport in Buckhannon. Other bases are in Morgantown, Charleston, Huntington, Mercer County and Portsmouth, Ohio, with the corporate headquarters in Charleston.
HealthNet Areomedical is the only statewide hospital-based air medical service in the United States. These six helicopter serve West Virginia and portions of Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Tennessee, according to the Web site www.healthnetaeromedical.com.
"This new base will put us closer to area hospitals," said Greg Werder, HealthNet pilot. "Our response times to incidents in this area will be reduced greatly."
The crews are rotated in and out and there are currently four pilots for the Buckhannon base, Werder said.
Not only does the Buckhannon airport house the helicopter, but it also provides hanger space for maintenance on the aircrafts in the fleet, Werder said.
The new helicopter has been stationed in Buckhannon since June 16, said paramedic Kim Slavemsky. Prior to the new base in Buckhannon, a helicopter would have to come from Morgantown to the hospital or an accident in Buckhannon costing critical minutes for the patient, she said.
The strategic locations of the bases improve HealthNet's operational capabilities by reducing response time to emergencies. The helicopters used, three EC-135s at Charleston, Morgantown and Buckhannon and the Eurocopter A-Star at Bluefield, Portsmouth, Ohio, and a systemwide spare are jet-powered and cruise at 130 miles per hour. Each is equipped with a full array of aviation equipment.
Agencies utilizing HealthNet have grown to rely on the aircrafts and crews to respond to their call, according to the Web site.
HealthNet Plans to have an open house within the next month to allow the public to look at the helicopter and learn more about HealthNet.
