Doctors' Memorial Hospital (DMH) will be the first and only rural hospital in Florida to serve as a base for its own critical care air medical transport service when the new hospital opens later this year.

After some 18 months of negotiations and consideration by DMH, the Board of Directors signed off on a proposed contract with Corporate Jets (CJ Critical Care Transportation Systems of Florida) Tuesday night, January 7th.

Under the agreement, beginning on May1, Corporate Jets will provide a twin-engine helicopter and four full-time pilots capable of responding to emergencies in a 150 mile radius of the DMH helipad 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

According to DMH CEO Jim McKnight, the DMH helicopter will not only provide air transport for trauma and other critically ill patients in Taylor County, but also residents in surrounding counties of the Big Bend.

"We are excited to announce that DMH and Corporate Jets have agreed to partner to provide regional critical care helicopter transport services to patients in North Florida and the Big Bend Area" McKnight said.

"This agreement is consistent with the hospital's mission to be a regional comprehensive healthcare leader and continue to improve the delivery of our services to the communities we serve." DMH Board Chairman Wayne Jones said.

"Due to our geographical location, the distance to the Trauma Center in Jacksonville and other higher levels of tertiary care in Tallahassee, every second counts in an emergency situation. It is extremely important that the citizens of rural counties we serve have access to the highest quality." McKnight said.

"DMH is committed to providing high-quality cost-effective healthcare to the citizens of Taylor County and we have partnered with an organization that has both the experience and the expertise to ensure that the people of this county have access to the best in emergency medical transport services." McKnight said.

We are extremely pleased to be the first rural hospital in our state to provide this service to our citizens, " DMH Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Supervisor Marty Tompkins said.

"We are looking forward to building a lasting working relationship with Corporate Jets and the Trauma One team," he said.

According to Tompkins, having a helicopter based at the local hospital will mean even lower response times for trauma or other critically ill patients. Having a helicopter stationed here in Perry will further enhance the services provided through Trauma One helicopters based in Lake City and Jacksonville.

"Currently our survival rates for Level 1 trauma cases (life-threatening critical injuries) are above the national average, according to statistics at Shands Jacksonville. Implementing this service will help us to increase our survival rates even more." Tompkins added.

"Due to our close proximity, response times will be substantially decreased to many of our neighboring counties, such as Madison, Jefferson, Dixie, and Lafayette," Tompkins said, adding that many of those counties and Franklin have already indicated that they woud utilize DMH's helicopter transport service.

Flight Paramedics could be on scene in Madison in 12 minutes when the new helicopter is based here, compared to 23 minutes out of Lake City.

Patients will still be transported to the medical facility bes suited to handle their injury or illness, according to standard medical protocol, taking into consideration patient preference and proximity to tertiary care facilities in Tallahassee, Gainesville, and Jacksonville.