Kalispell Regional Medical Centre has to replace their Advanced Life-support and Emergency Rescue Team (ALERT) helicopter which has been in service for 17 years. The helicopter meets the new FAA rule of having a terrain awareness and warning system but the helicopter is down 105 days of the year due to repairs. The only backup that meets FAA standards will then have to be a private service from outside Flathead, which can be very costly for patients. They are looking into purchasing a new helicopter so that the amount of time their helicopter is down is reduced. A new helicopter will cost around $4 million, reports Daily Inter Lake.