BOISE, Idaho — Rural Idaho counties depend on Air Med services like Air St. Luke's and Life Flight to get injured and sick patients out quickly and safely.
- There are several designated landing zones throughout the county
- Safety is a priority for the crew, the patient’s and people on the ground
- Air St.Luke's helicopter is built for the Idaho's rough environment
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
Idaho News Six showed you the challenges facing the Boise County Sheriff’s Office. One of those challenges is getting first responders to an emergency and that’s why they depend on a service like Air St.Luke’s.
Mari Adams is the Director of East Boise County Ambulance tells me they rely heavily on their services.
“Sometimes if we have a broken femur or a real sick person coming in from Lowman it just too long to get them out," said Adams. "So we ask Air Med to help us with those situations.”
Victor Quon is a flight nurse who says there are several designated landing zones throughout the county, but sometimes they have to coordinate with those on the ground to find a safe place to land.
“For us the biggest priority is safety for the entire crew safety for the patient’s safety for people on the ground.”
Air St.Luke’s Pilot Coleen Leonard agrees with Quon, saying, “It can be very, very tricky there’s obstacles there’s terrain there’s times we don’t have a lot of room to land so I rely heavily on our crew making sure we’re clear and got space.”
Crew member Josh Bingaman puts it this way: “We sell speed. We call it skid, skid, when we land, then load to the time we’re actually lifting ideally we’d like to be out in ten minutes.”
Leonard says the Belfour 29 helicopter is built to get in and out as quickly and safely as possible.
“This aircraft is incredible especially for the environment that we operate in here in Idaho, it was specifically chosen for it’s ability to perform well in the terrain here.”
Again, a reminder that many people from the Treasure Valley recreate in Boise County and they ask that you to be responsible and treat the other with respect, so you’ll never need the services of Air St.Luke’s or Life Flight from St. Alphonsus who we also contacted for this story.
