Officials with Air Methods are expecting to launch their medical helicopter in Okaloosa County later this month after removing GULFlight 1 from operations.
A new module station will be set up at Bob Sikes Airport in Crestview. Larry Hall, field operations manager with Air Methods, said a trailer is scheduled to be delivered and set up by Dec. 9 and a tentative start date is Dec. 16 with Air Heart 3.
“All of our operations will be shifting to the west,” Hall said. “We’re in the strategic planning stage now.”
GULFlight 1, which has operated from Twin Cities Hospital in Niceville since June 2006, made its last emergency runs Wednesday.
The helicopter is no longer needed because of a decrease in calls, Hall said. He added that the large number of medical helicopters in the area will help ease the transition.
AirHeart 3 will be moved to Bob Sikes from DeFuniak Springs. Hall said response times for Walton County may be affected, so an “auto-watch procedure” will be put in place. That means medical helicopters will respond to certain areas immediately rather than wait to be called. If the air ambulance is not needed, it will turn around.
“That method helps buy us time to get to the patient faster,” Hall said. “We are deciding on the areas that will be on the auto-watch list.”
Hall added that AirHeart 2, which operates out of Marianna, also will be available for calls to Walton County.
AirHeart 3 will continue to operate from DeFuniak Springs until Dec. 16.
Dino Villani, Okaloosa County’s public safety director, said the transition is expected to be seamless.
“We’ve been preparing for this,” Villani said. “While we’re operating out of DeFuniak Springs I don’t expect problems with response time. It will be similar to the times GULFlight has.”
Hall said residents should not see a difference in coverage and response times.
“It’s all the same basic coverage that we’ve provided for years,” Hall said.
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