By Sam Kennedy
The Morning Call
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Lehigh Valley Health Network will soon have a new helicopter in its LVHN-MedEvac fleet.
United Rotorcraft posted a photograph on its Facebook page of a new Air Bus H130 helicopter emblazoned with the LVHN name and logo. United Rotorcraft — a division of Englewood, Colo.-based Air Methods, the world’s largest air ambulance operator — designs and builds custom helicopter interiors.
“Our contracted vendor will provide a new helicopter to replace the one currently operating out of Kutztown, allowing us to maintain the highest quality air medical transport,” LVHN spokesman Brian Downs said in an email.
Downs described the new H130, which he said could be delivered by late November, as “state-of-the-art with the latest navigation and safety technology.”
“We have a beautiful new bird in the hangars today!” reads the caption on United Rotorcraft’s photograph. It “arrived ready for a brand new United Rotorcraft medical interior.”
LVHN-MedEvac transports patients from as far away as Massachusetts and Ohio, according to LVHN’s website. It provides critically ill and injured patients access to the network’s care, which includes a level 1 trauma center, a comprehensive stroke center and the region’s only American Burn Association-verified Burn Center.
The second air medical transport service in Pennsylvania and the first in the northeast part of the state, LVHN-MedEvac has completed more than 30,000 missions since its start in 1981, the website says.
The MedEvac staff includes paramedics, registered nurses, medical technicians and pilots. When not transporting patients, crew members work in emergency departments and critical care units to maintain their skill and proficiency in advanced critical care.
LVHN-MedEvac’s new single-engine H130 will replace a BK117 model manufactured in 1998. The MBB/Kawasaki BK117 is a twin-engined helicopter made jointly by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm of Germany and Kawasaki of Japan.
The other three aircraft used by LVHN are twin-engine EC135 models manufactured in either 2007 or 2008. The EC135 is also made by Airbus.
Copyright 2016 The Morning Call