Air Evac Lifeteam, an independently-owned air ambulance provider, has begun operations in Lancaster, Ohio. Air Evac Lifeteam crews provide on-the-scene medical care and rapid medical transport, as well as transfers between medical facilities.

The new base opened Tuesday, June 7, and is located at the Pleasant Township Fire Department, 2929 Lancaster Thornville Road. It is one of 101 bases in Air Evac Lifeteam’s network of air ambulance services and the fifth in Ohio, with others located in Brown County, Portsmouth, Chillicothe and East Liverpool. The Lancaster base will provide employment for 12 to 15 individuals and serve communities within a 70-mile radius of Lancaster.

“We are very pleased to have Air Evac Lifeteam in Fairfield County,” said Economic Development Director Shane Farnsworth. “We look forward to assisting Air Evac through the development process and becoming seamlessly integrated into the community. The services they provide to our area will continue to make Fairfield County a great place to live, work and do business.”

Fairfield Commissioner Mike Kiger echoed those sentiments. “Being a past paramedic, I recognize the advantage of a fast response to a traumatic situation,” said Kiger. “Air Evac Lifeteam will benefit the citizens of Fairfield County with improved response time and fast access to emergency care, not to mention the economic benefit of job creation.” Kiger added that he wanted to thank Pleasant Township and Chief Jeff Mathias’ “participation and willingness to accommodate this opportunity.”

An Air Evac Lifeteam crew, which includes a registered nurse, paramedic and pilot, is on call at each base 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Crew members are trained in advanced pre-hospital care, allowing them to continue medical care at the scene and en route to the hospital. This same training also allows for critical care hospital-to-hospital transfers. The Lancaster helicopter is also equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment, including the use of Night Vision Goggles (NVGs). NVGs are particularly useful on nights with little illumination in identifying emergency scene landing zones in difficult terrain, such as mountains and hills, by raising night-time vision to 20/20.

“We are very pleased to have a base in Lancaster,” said Air Evac Lifeteam President Seth Myers. “It will be a great addition to the already quality health services available in this area. We would like to thank the city and county officials, and the residents of Lancaster and the surrounding counties, for their support of Air Evac Lifeteam. We look forward to working with each and every one of them.”

Air Evac Lifeteam, headquartered in West Plains, Mo., is the largest independently-owned air ambulance service in the country. Since its founding in 1985, Air Evac has transported more than 250,000 patients in need, serving as the critical link to improved response time and immediate access to medical care facilities across 14 states.

Myers said the company is excited about expanding its service area into Lancaster.

“Our mission is to save lives and positively impact outcomes during life-or-limb-threatening medical emergencies, and we can do this by providing rapid access to definitive emergency health care,” said Myers. “Our goal is to provide quality health care to area residents, and we have unwavering dedication to our mission.

“The opening of this base is part of an ever-expanding commitment by Air Evac Lifeteam and the health care community in this region to improve access to trauma care for residents of south central Ohio,” he added. “Our goal is to be an extension of the quality medical services already in place by providing rapid transport in critical medical situations.”

Mina Ubbing, President and CEO of Fairfield Medical Center, said she was happy to welcome Air Evac to the Lancaster community. “We, at Fairfield Medical Center, are dedicated to offering the best care possible to our patients, and having a relationship with Air Evac helps us do just that. Having them so close by, only 15 minutes away, allows us to give faster emergency care, which is crucial to saving lives. We are looking forward to the benefits that Air Evac will provide to our community.”

Air Evac Lifeteam was one of the first air ambulance services in the country to offer a membership program. Members pay an annual fee and, if they are flown by Air Evac, they do not have to pay for the flight. Memberships are valid throughout Air Evac Lifeteam service areas, so members are covered while traveling through Air Evac Lifeteam service areas. Annual memberships are $50 for an individual, $55 for a couple and $60 for a household or three or more.