Cedar City area gets new emergency medical helicopter

The Cedar City area now has a new emergency medical helicopter service, with AirLife Utah opening a base this week.

AirLife is a helicopter transportation service for emergency and trauma situations, transporting patients to hospitals or between hospitals for specialized care. When demand is high, the AirLife chopper could also be relocated to Hurricane to help with operations in or around Zion National Park.

"The parks around the area are an asset to southwestern Utah and eastern Nevada, but visitors may be unprepared for the conditions," said Erik Bornemeier, account executive with Air Methods, the medical services provider that operates AirLife. "When people enjoying our landscape get injured, experience heat stroke, or are unable to get themselves out of the parks, we can access remote areas with emergency medical care."

AirLife flies an AS350 helicopter, with a crew of nurses, paramedics, and pilots trained on emergency services. Through a partnership with Southern Utah University, the Cedar City aircraft could include university students who emerge from the school's pilot and aircraft mechanic training programs.

Local emergency services managers were happy to be getting air coverage, with George Colson, the Iron County Emergency Manager, saying a helicopter to get to even remote locations within minutes rather than hours, "will undoubtedly mean the difference between life and death for many."

"In a rural county such as Iron, response time to incidents in more remote areas such as New Castle, Beryl, or the Northeast County are crucial," Colson said.

The new AirLife service extends emergency helicopter services in the larger region, with emergency helicopter crews already based in St. George and Mesquite. The Cedar City aircraft could cover large areas in and around Iron County, including parts of eastern Nevada.

This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Emergency helicopter service opens new base in Cedar City