MedStar adding new ground ambulance

Northwest MedStar, internationally recognized by the Association of Air Medical Services as the 2012 Program of the Year for their outstanding performance in safety, quality and leadership, is adding a ground ambulance to its Palouse base at the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport beginning in November. The ambulance will be used to support the ongoing air operations of Northwest MedStar and will not replace existing emergency ground services in the area.

“We are pleased to hear news of Northwest MedStar adding a ground ambulance to their facility at the Moscow-Pullman Airport,” said Ed Button, fire chief of the Moscow Volunteer Fire Department & Ambulance Company. “The addition of another ambulance in our region provides additional options of service to the citizens of Moscow, Pullman, Latah and Whitman Counties. It has always been a mission of the Volunteers of the MVFD to serve the community and we’re happy to have Northwest MedStar as partners in providing additional medical transport services to our communities.”

“The Pullman Fire Department are all for patient care and seamless intervention from one point of transport to another. The helicopter and fixed–wing transportation options allow for rapid transport and intervention for patients that are critical,” said Scott LaVielle, fire chief of Pullman Fire Department. “Having an additional ground transportation option during inclement weather and from hospital to airport will enhance a solid Emergency Medical Services delivery system even further.”

The NW MedStar ground ambulance will be used to transport critically ill and injured pediatric and adult patients in inclement weather when the helicopter is unable to fly. It will also be used when patients are transported from the hospital to the airport when the NW MedStar fixed-wing aircraft is needed.

“Our ground ambulances are staffed and equipped exactly the same as our aircraft with everything the critical care team might need including a ventilator, hemodynamic monitors, medications, isolette for neonates and other medical supplies,” said Eveline Bisson, director for Northwest MedStar. “This insures that every patient receives the same level of care and expertise no matter what the mode of transport, improving access and availability to critical care and transport to patients in the Palouse region.”