Fort Wayne, Ind. – Friday, July 29, 2011 — This month marks the one-year anniversary of Parkview Hospital’s Samaritan Mobile Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The Mobile ICU provides medical care and transportation to critically ill and injured patients in northern Indiana and northwest Ohio.
As an expansion of the Samaritan Flight Program, the Mobile ICU complements the services provided by the Parkview Samaritan helicopters. In situations when a Samaritan helicopter is not available, such as inclement weather or dispatch elsewhere, the Mobile ICU is a valuable alternative.
Mobile ICU highlights from first year in service:
*1,148 patient transports
*55,000 miles driven
“The Mobile Intensive Care Unit has been a welcome addition to our region as an alternative means of medical care and transport,” said Cathy Harris, director of flight and EMS, Parkview Hospital. “The Mobile Intensive Care Unit and Samaritan are committed to providing the best medical care possible as we strive to improve the health of the communities we serve.”
Samaritan helicopter highlights:
*Samaritan 1, based in Fort Wayne, began transporting severely ill and injured patients on Nov. 18, 1989. A decade later, Samaritan 2 began flying from its base in Rochester, Ind.
*Parkview Samaritan was the first flight program in Indiana to have an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) certified program. With IFR, helicopters can fly by instrument guides in certain types of weather that may not be possible by visual flight rules.
*Parkview Samaritan is the first in the region to utilize night vision goggles to enhance crew and patient safety. The goggles assist the pilot and crew members see as clearly at night as they do during the day.
*More than 17,000 medical-only flights
*More than 18,000 patients have been served
*Samaritan aircraft are twin-engine Dauphin AS 365 N-2 helicopters. Both helicopters serve a 100-mile radius from Fort Wayne and Rochester, covering the northern half of Indiana and northwest Ohio. When the crew receives a call, Samaritan leaves the helipad within an average of 5.6 minutes and cruises at an average of 180 mph to its destination.
*The newborn intensive care unit (NICU) specialty team performs multiple flights each year to provide medical care to newborn patients.