Mission Health’s newest Mountain Area Medical Airlift (MAMA) craft took its first tour of Western North Carolina this past week, with stops at several of the communities it will serve, including an appearance on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at Spruce Pine Blue Ridge Regional Hospital.
The new aircraft, an EC-145e helicopter, is able to safely land in the same size area as the current MAMA aircraft and will increase safety margin across all mission profiles.
The aircraft will increase the MAMA patient care area by 31 percent and usher in a 15-percent increase in transport range.
With the EC-145e, patient size also becomes a far smaller factor.
The aircraft, which has a 145 mile per hour cruising speed, is also night vision goggle certified, single pilot instrument flight rules certified and has a twin engine.
The aircraft has already been in use for training and demonstrations but is expected to be ushered into full service by the beginning of December.
The craft’s appearance in Spruce Pine was one of several that the MAMA crew had planned. Staff from the hospital rushed out into the chilly, blustery afternoon to catch a glimpse of the shiny new craft for the first time.
Members of the MAMA staff were also on hand to answer questions and opened the doors to allow attendees to get an up close look at the myriad of advanced equipment inside.
The craft is loaded with state of the art medical technology and comes equipped with a full-sized stretcher and ample room for multiple MAMA staff members.
MAMA Air Medical Supervisor John Grindstaff said an increase in safety is the best thing the new aircraft brings to the table.
“Safety,” he said. “That’s the one word. Our other helicopters are very safe but this adds another layer of safety for our patients and providers. We can get total body access to the patient, we can carry larger patients.”
Larger patients, Grindstaff said, can present challenges for any helicopter. The new craft will help to alleviate that worry.
“That’s a challenge that any helicopter has is the size of the patient,” Grindstaff said. “Will they actually fit? Can we pick up that much weight? This helicopter is a big safety improvement.”
Grindstaff said with all of the training completed in the new craft, the MAMA crew is eager to see the helicopter enter full time service.
“Two weeks ago, all of our pilots did their training,” Grindstaff said. “All last week the crew was training. Now it’s our goal to get it out and start using it.”