North Carolina hospital opens new helipad

The helipad has a capacity for two aircraft at a time, and is the result of several months of planning, construction and staff education. It is located on the top floor of the hospital’s parking garage on North Center Street.

The new helipad will allow emergency medical patients to be airlifted directly to and from Frye Regional’s Emergency Department, shortening last-mile transport times and potentially saving more lives.

A ceremonial ‘first flight’ to the helipad is scheduled for 23 January. A MedCenter Air-operated helicopter is also set to perform a number of take-offs and landings within the initial 24-hour period as part of hands-on training for the hospital’s safety, security and emergency medical staff.

The hospital’s new helipad ‘meets or exceeds all local and state requirements’, including an adequate touchdown and lift-off area, approach/departure paths, perimeter lighting and a fuel-water separator system’.

‘A tremendous step forward’

Philip Green, MD, the CEO of Frye Regional Medical Center said: “This marks a tremendous step forward for the delivery of critical care at Frye Regional and further exemplifies our mission of making communities healthier. This investment in our facility has been years in the making and is a visible sign of the progress made in establishing Frye Regional as the region’s leader in cardiac and neurosurgical care.”

“Having a helipad at our hospital enables swift, specialised care for time-sensitive medical events like a heart attack or stroke,” said Gregory Taraska, MD, Medical Director of Frye’s Emergency Department. “In addition to serving patients from the Catawba Valley region, we anticipate inter-hospital transports of critically-ill patients from facilities across western North Carolina – reducing time-to-treatment, such as in the case of a patient who needs an emergency cardiac catheterisation to open a blocked artery or open heart surgery.”

North Carolina’s Army National Guard (NCNG) received two upgraded Lakota helicopters on 9 November at its Morrisville flight facility.