The CareFlight Air & Mobile program is expanding to include a fourth base of operations in Versailles, in northeast Darke County.

The helicopter, to be housed at the Darke County Airport, will serve as CareFlight’s northwest base in the region and will begin responding to emergency calls from that site as early as late February. Once the program’s expansion is complete, CareFlight will have four bases of operation – at Miami Valley Hospital, Lebanon-Warren County Airport, Urbana-Grimes Airport, and the Darke County Airport next to Midmark Corp.

“This will further enhance our health system’s rapid air transport capabilities across the northern Miami Valley,” said Mary Boosalis, president and CEO of Premier Health. “We are appreciative of the collaboration with Midmark Corp. and with public officials in Darke County who have made possible this expansion of life-saving services, as well as access to our Level 1 Trauma Center in Dayton and other advanced tertiary services.”

As Dayton’s first medical transport program, CareFlight has transported more than 70,000 patients since its start in 1983. CareFlight helicopters are the region’s fastest, traveling up to 180 mph, and serve a 150-mile radius, covering most of Ohio and parts of West Virginia, Michigan, Kentucky, and Indiana. CareFlight has the unique capability to transport two patients, plus the pilot and two certified flight nurses.