San Juan Regional AirCare

AirCare is the air ambulance programme of San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, New Mexico. It is a hospital programme. The hospital owns the aircraft, and Air Methods operates them.

Services

AirCare has flown emergency medical flights for the Four Corners area since October 15, 1986. The site lists these skills and services.

• High risk obstetric care with fetal monitoring
• Balloon pump and Impella heart device transport
• 12 lead EKG checks
• Adult and child advanced airway skills
• Family member may ride along with the patient
• Hospital requests go straight to the flight supervisor

Aircraft

The site names three aircraft.

• AirCare 1: a Bell 429 twin engine helicopter
• AirCare 2: a Pilatus PC-12 NGX airplane
• AirCare 3: a second Pilatus PC-12, added in early 2024

The helicopter and the airplane can each carry two patients.

Facts

• Type: hospital programme
• Owner of the aircraft: San Juan Regional Medical Center
• Operator: Air Methods
• Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems since 1995, as the site states
• Site figures: more than 27,300 patients and nearly 7.5 million miles flown

How it works

The site calls AirCare a hospital with wings. It says the programme is a team effort that relies on hospital staff, the City of Farmington, San Juan County and local dispatchers. The hospital says it chose to go through the accreditation process on its own. Hospitals that need a flight can call the flight coordination line, and a flight supervisor answers their requests directly.