12-Apr-2024 Source: Corewell Health
North Flight Aero Med, a joint operation between Corewell HealthTM (formerly Spectrum Health) and Munson Healthcare, has added a Sikorsky S-76 C++ helicopter to its fleet.
The aircraft will be available to the media on Tuesday, April 9, from 12:45 to 2:45 p.m. at the North Flight Aero Med Hangar at 1840 Stultz Drive, Traverse City, Mich., 49686.
This aircraft is the new primary helicopter for the air ambulance operator in northern Michigan, replacing its former Sikorsky S-76 B helicopter. It operates from a base located in Traverse City with three aircraft: a King Air B250 airplane, a King Air B200 airplane and the new Sikorsky helicopter. The joint venture provides emergency critical care air transport across northern Michigan and into neighboring states.
“This new helicopter will enable us to continue to serve the northern Michigan community for many years to come,” said Tiffany Obetts, director, Corewell Health Aero Med & North Flight Aero Med. “The investment our two organizations make in this crucial infrastructure ensures we can continue our mission to be a leader in providing exceptional critical care air transport in Michigan.”
The new Sikorsky S-76 C++ will have improved fuel efficiency, state-of-the-art avionics and certified IFR (instrument flight rules) capability. Its’ clinical capabilities include blood products, specialty medications, high flow nasal cannula, cardiac device transport and neonatal transports.
“Munson Healthcare provides coverage across more than 11,000 square miles which is roughly the size of Delaware and Vermont combined,” said Aditya Neravetla, M.D., Munson Healthcare East Region chief medical officer and medical director of system transfers. “Ongoing investments like this one are vital to ensuring northern Michigan’s most critically ill patients and babies receive timely transport to Munson Medical Center or other facilities downstate.”
The new helicopter will also feature a new stretcher system created in collaboration with outside vendors Spectrum Aeromed (Fargo, S.D.) and Stryker (Kalamazoo, Mich.).
North Flight Aero Med added the King Air B250 to its fleet in March 2023 and Corewell Health Aero Med added a Sikorsky S-76 C++ helicopter to its fleet last May. Aero Med first incorporated the Sikorsky S-76 model in its operation in 1994.
“With speeds up to 180 mph and a range of 300 miles, the S-76 safely and reliably transports hundreds of patients all over Michigan each year,” Obetts said.
