New Emergency Transport Helicopter to Serve Long Beach

St. Mary’s Medical Center on Wednesday celebrated what will soon be a new emergency medical transport helicopter that will serve critically injured patients in the Long Beach area and on Catalina Island.

Mercy Air, which has provided helicopter services to the hospital since 1989, will soon put into service a new Eurocopter BK117 helicopter that will carry double the amount of patients and provide intensive care on board the aircraft.

On Wednesday, Mercy Air landed a similar model to the new helicopter on the hospital’s roof top helipad where it was greeted by Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, police, fire and hospital representatives.

"This helicopter is going to save more lives," Foster said. "It is going to get you to care faster than they could before...This is another piece of equipment that is going to save people’s lives and demonstrates the dedication this hospital has to community.”

Among the many improvements with the new $5 million helicopter is the ability to carry two patients instead of one and the equipment to care for neonatal intensive care patients.

In addition, the new helicopter features double clamshell doors at the rear of the aircraft, eliminating the need to move patients to a separate gurney when loading and unloading the helicopter.

"It is really a game changer for the community, especially now that we are responsible for the port, the city of Long Beach and Catalina," St Mary's President Thomas Salerno said.

The helicopter, based at the Long Beach airport, has a two-hour range, but for St Mary's purposes, will focus on transporting patients in the Long Beach area and the 26 miles across the ocean from Catalina Island.

Mercy Air representatives said they expect the new helicopter to go into service within the next two to three months