West Monroe, Louisiana – Glenwood Regional Medical Center will hold a dedication ceremony for our newly built helipad on Thursday, April 9 th at 2:00pm. The helipad is located adjacent to the ED/Education Complex Parking Lot. Pafford Air One will land their Air Medical Helicopter at 2:00pm. The dedication ceremony along with an opportunity to meet the flight crew of Pafford Air One will follow the landing. The newly constructed helipad was completed in March and is the only healthcare facility helipad in the twin cities.
“The addition of flight capabilities of critical cardiac patients is an enhancement to Glenwood’s ability to respond to chest pain patients. With our Chest Pain Center, patients are rapidly assessed and treated to reduce the risk of a heart attack related death”, said Edward Calvert, M.D., Medical Director of Glenwood Emergency Department. The ACS states that patients having acute myocardial infarctions require access to a cardiac care facility with heart cath capabilities within 90 minutes. Patients that arrive at rural hospitals in surrounding parishes can reap the benefit of air medical services by dramatically decreasing their transport time to Glenwood. In some cases the transport time can be decreased by 75%. Below are some examples of air flight times compared to ground transport time from out lying areas to Glenwood Regional Medical Center:
| Sending Facility | Air Flight Time | Ground Transport Time |
| Jackson Parish | 16 mins | 40-45 mins |
| Winn Parish | 22 mins | 1 hr 15mins – 1 hr 30 mins |
| Bastrop | 12 mins | 35-45 mins |
“This is a great service for the community. It will allow us to provide treatment to critically injured patients much quicker”, says Dr. Gary Lowder, MD.
Flight decisions and criteria for Air Medical Services are based upon guidelines established by the American College of Surgeons (ACS). ACS states that a critically injured patient’s chances of survival decreases dramatically if that patient does not arrive at a level one trauma center within the “golden hour”, which is 1 hour from the time of injury, to the time he/she reaches the Emergency Department. The level one trauma center for our region is LSUHSC in Shreveport, which is approximately a 40 minute air flight from Glenwood Regional Medical Center, compared to a 1 hour 30 minute ground transport time. Patients that arrive at Glenwood via private auto or ambulance can arrive at the trauma center in less than 1 hour, which increases survivability dramatically.
“Seeing our patient’s quickly is vital to providing optimal patient care”, said Ron Elder, CEO. We are striving to provide a high level of care and at Glenwood Regional Medical Center; your emergency is our emergency!