S
ince 1985, North Memorial Health has served Minnesota and the surrounding states, connecting rural communities and the sprawling metropolis of Minneapolis by both air and ground. North Memorial Health Air Care and its fleet of nine helicopters conduct more than 4,000 flights a year from seven bases throughout the region. Its focus is clear: saving lives by safely providing the highest level of care in the shortest possible flight.
Upon meeting the team at North Memorial Health Air Care, one thing becomes immediately evident: a sense of pride and teamwork. From executives to pilots and paramedics, everyone is invested in the mission and doing their part to serve the community.
The central hub of North Memorial Health is its two hospitals in Robbinsdale and Maple Grove, Minnesota. The Robbinsdale facility is a Level 1 Adult Trauma Center, and it features one of the largest helipads in the Upper Midwest to accommodate air ambulance flights from across the region. “We’re one of the true hospital-owned certificates left,” says Tate Poynor, Air Care director of operations. “Air Care has been deeply rooted here for more than 30 years. Having the support of the hospital has given us all the things we need to be industry leaders.” The hospitals themselves service more than 100,000 emergency room visits a year, which requires a large network of ground and air transportation assets.
It’s a lot to manage, and the team at North Memorial Health Air Care is up to the challenge. “When you really look at air medical transport, the difference between ground and air is that we’re able to cover distances much quicker. Combined with the specialized equipment we carry, we really get people to where they need to be, whether that be a trauma center or a heart center, as fast as possible,” says Scott Sampey, vice president of Ambulance Services
including the air wing. “Since we are so spread out across the state, the air assets really help pull our whole system together.”
To cover the entire state as well as parts of surrounding states, North Memorial Health’s nine aircraft are spread across six bases in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin. This means they are deeply involved in each community they serve, training side-by-side with local first responders, hospital staff, and their own extensive ambulance network. “When North Memorial Air Care comes to that community we stay in that community, and we become a part of that community. We’re committed to the citizens, health care facilities, and local first responders. They know that they can trust us to take care of their patients and get them to the most appropriate care,” says Billie Sell, clinical manager at North Memorial Health Air Care. “When someone is critically ill or critically injured, time matters. The faster we can get them from the rural parts of the state to a level 1 facility, the better outcome they’re going to have.” That speed comes in the form of the Leonardo AW109.
The face of COVID care: Tiger Medical masks that prevent fogging of glasses, alongside newly adopted white phosphor NVGs.
North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, is a Level I Adult Trauma Center.
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July/Aug 2021
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