Despite rumors, Lifeline is maintining its emergency medical air service in Douglas.

The Douglas Fire Department emergency medical services personnel work hand-in-hand with Lifeline to ensure the best medical care in Douglas. Pictured, from left, are Jesus Munoz, EMT, Douglas Fire Department; Royce Willhoyt, AZ Lifeline pilot; Raul Alvarado, paramedic, Douglas Fire Department; Henry Dominguez, Flight RN, and Matthew McVay, Flight Paramedic, AZ Lifeline.

Earlier,  Med-Trans Corporation announced that they will be opening a third Arizona LifeLine air medical helicopter base, which will be located in Nogales at Carondelet  Holy Cross  Hospital.

This expansion base is directly affiliated with the Arizona LifeLine program located in Tucson and Douglas.

The thought was that the opening of the Nogales base would force closure in Douglas,k but company representatives said that is not happening.

 This newest LifeLine base in Nogales will focus on providing safe, quality air medical transport of inter-facility and pre-hospital patients as well as servicing and supporting EMS systems throughout their region. They are scheduled to begin service November 1, 2008, operating a Night Vision Goggle (NVG) equipped Bell 407 helicopter which is regarded as one of the most reliable helicopters in the air medical industry.

 Marty Arkus, Vice President of Business Development for Med-Trans Corporation, said, “The Arizona LifeLine program has done a tremendous job of building hospital relationships and supporting the EMS system throughout Southern Arizona and LifeLine III will be no exception. All Med-Trans programs are established with the very same principles and values, which are to provide safe, quality air medical transport of medical, and trauma patients.”

The Lifeline program expanded in March of 2005 into Douglas, AZ and Lifeline will continue to service and maintain its base locations at St. Mary’s Hospital in Tucson, AZ as well as Douglas,  AZ.

 “Through this partnership, we are delighted to take another step in improving the health in the region.  When critical time is important for the transfer of the patient, the care process will be enhanced and streamlined by the presence of a flight crew on the campus of the hospital,” states Marlene Wade, the Chief Nursing Officer of Holy Cross Hospital.

 “We are very happy about LifeLine’s decision to expand their services, allowing others to obtain LifeLine’s professional and competent patient care. We have been very satisfied with the level of service that LifeLine and the Med-Trans organization have brought to the Douglas community. LifeLine has provided service in Douglas, AZ, for over three years. During that time, we have greatly improved the level of care to all of our service area thanks to the great staff and professionalism that LifeLine has offered us.   Our staff not only considers LifeLine a much needed resource to our community and response area; rather, it is an integral part of our close-knit EMS family. We look forward to and applaud the continuing relationship and service expansion of LifeLine in Southern Arizona,” states Mario Novoa, Fire Chief, City of Douglas, AZ.

 Med-Trans Corporation, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a leading provider of air ambulance programs in selected locations throughout the United States. The company is strongly focused on establishing partnerships with leading hospital systems, medical centers and EMS agencies. For more information about Med-Trans Corporation, visit online at www.med-trans.net.