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New Air Ambulance Service Takes Off

Something new is taking off at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital. The hospital is launching its air ambulance service   to transport critically ill and trauma patients in Michigan, Ohio and Ontario.

Head of Trauma and Critical Care Surgery Dr. Pat Patton tells WWJ they'll be able to get patients from a 150 mile radius.

"There's a lot of patients who exceed the resources of their local medical community and need the resources of a terchieary or a quatinary referal center," Patton said.  

Perhaps they're on extreem levels of life support in a prolonged transport by ground could potentially be detrimental to those patients," he said.

Hospital officials say the medical helicopter service has also drawn interest from a number of local governments to respond to auto crashes. 

 Superior Ambulance Service will provide the Air Med 1 medical chopper to Henry Ford beginning Friday.
 This will be the first medical chopper based in Wayne, Oakland or Macomb Counties. 

The University of Michigan and St. Joseph Mercy Hospital near Ann Arbor already have helicopters that transport patients in the Metro Detroit area.

Most medical insurance covers medical air transport, which costs about $10,000.

 (Copyright 2010 WWJ Radio.  All Rights Reserved.)

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