By Jonathan Phelps
The New Hampshire Union Leader
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Boston MedFlight is already seeing the impact of its fifth permanent base, which opened recently at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.
“The first day we got here we actually had three missions and we were out of the base the whole day,” CEO Maura Hughes said during an open house Thursday morning. “It is going to be a very busy base for us. At the end of the day, it is about connecting patients with the care they need.”
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Hughes said the nonprofit organization has been serving southern New Hampshire for many years. The base includes a critical care nurse, paramedic, pilots and maintenance workers.
Before opening in New Hampshire, the nearest base was in Lawrence, Mass. Hughes called the opening of the new base an important initiative for the organization, which transports more than 7,000 patients across its network of bases in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
“This gives us an opportunity to be closer to the patient and decrease our response times to be able to get to the patients faster,” she said.
The open house drew about 125 people from all over including partners from police and fire departments and local hospitals.
Mike Steckevicz, clinical operations manager, said the teams have already helped dozens of patients since the base launched in early March.
“This base isn’t just about having an aircraft here,” he told the crowd. “It is about meeting a real need, improving response times, expanding access to critical care and better connecting the system we’re all a part of. When the patient needs us, we’re ready to go.”
While the state-of-the-art Airbus H145 medical helicopter landing on the highway or at an established landing zone gets a lot of attention, that is only about 10% of the missions. The helicopter also provides ICU-level care to transfer patients typically from community hospitals to larger centers of care, according to the organization.
Right now, the Manchester base is helicopter only, but the organization plans to expand ground transport services there in the near future. The organization also operates ICU-level ground ambulances.
Manchester Mayor Jay Ruias mentioned how his daughter, Brielle, spent 78 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Elliot Hospital and he’s glad to know the critical service is available to those who need it.
“We know what is going on today, right here in this hangar, is going to save lives,” the mayor said.
The base, which is inside Signature Aviation’s hangar on Garside Way, includes office space, a lounge area and sleeping quarters. Pilots are constantly keeping an eye on the weather.
Some of the equipment used in the helicopter includes a balloon pump used to help patients suffering from possible cardiac arrest and a neonatal nitric oxide console to help reduce pulmonary hypertension. The crew is able to restock at the helipads at hospitals.
Merrimack resident Kevin Paquin, who works for Denron Hall Plumbing & HVAC, helped outfit the new space for free. The general contractor was Hooksett -based Procon.
Paquin spoke of experiencing a heart attack last year, which took place a year ago to the day. While he didn’t need MedFlight’s services, he called the work they do amazing.
“There are a lot of people who can’t afford this and they still do it anyways,” Paquin said.
MedFlight works with patients in need regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. The organization provides more than $7 million in free and unreimbursed care. The organization has helped more than 110,000 patients over the past 40 years.
Hughes said plans were in the works for several years to open the new base and the expansion started with a test run last year at Portsmouth International Airport . The goal was always to land in Manchester, she said.
“We know that many patients in southern New Hampshire get their care in Boston, so it was a natural extension for us to come here,” she said
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