By Lori RoseOct 17, 2023

Though its natural wonders draw millions of visitors each year, Wyoming remains the least populated state in the nation. Residents in the vast Bighorn Basin often live, work and recreate far from emergency medical care.

That’s why Cody Regional Health and St. Vincent Healthcare partnered to launch First Flight of Wyoming, the state’s only hospital-owned rapid response flight program, a crucial addition to the region’s health care resources. Because when someone has a heart attack or suffers a traumatic injury, every minute counts.

Based in Greybull, the program launched Oct. 1 to serve northern Wyoming and southern Montana with high-quality, lower-cost air medical transportation for seriously ill or injured patients. Staffed by specially trained paramedics and flight nurses, First Flight’s dedicated Bell 407 helicopter stands ready to respond to clinics, smaller hospitals and accident scenes to take adult and pediatric patients quickly to where they need to go.

When minutes count

“There are limited resources for health care in northern Wyoming, and patients have to travel long distances,” said Heather Stamey, senior director of emergency and critical care at St. Vincent and a First Flight board member. “Heart attacks, strokes and traumatic injuries are all time sensitive. People are very excited to have this resource and excited to know that if they or their loved ones need access to care, it’s available to them quickly.”

Because of the remoteness and dramatic landscapes of northern Wyoming, a traditional ground ambulance may be up to hours away when help is needed — and challenging terrain may prevent it from arriving at an accident scene at all. But First Flight can be on the scene quickly, provide advanced life support care at the site and while en route to a larger medical facility. Such rapid response is critical to saving lives and reducing the incidence of disabilities.

“It’s very different here from an urban setting,” Stamey said, citing Wyoming’s high elevations, extreme weather and unpredictable wildlife. “We’ve had bear maulings, we’ve had motorcyclists crash into moose, people fall off horses, get run over by bulls. There’s skiing, hiking, and wide open stretches of highways where motor vehicle collisions can be pretty bad. Having access to life-saving care is critical.”

Strength in partnership

Cody Regional and St. Vincent collaborated to launch First Flight in the wake of dwindling EMS services in the region and the high cost of for-profit air transports. The isolated nature of the state and its sparse population has led to higher costs and fewer options for patients.

As a non-profit, First Flight is able to charge lower prices and generate lower margins since it’s not responsible to corporate shareholders, said Keith Ungrund, president of First Flight and chief clinical officer at Cody Regional. “Our base lift off fees and transport cost per mile are much lower and the average cost of flight is 40% less than for profit air ambulances.”

Cody Regional already manages the largest EMS network in the area, and St. Vincent Healthcare, now part of Intermountain Health, has operated HELP Flight out of Billings, Montana, for more than 40 years. Their combined expertise is well-suited to serving outlying physicians and hospitals, emergency medical and law enforcement personnel, and residents of rural communities, farms and ranches.

Just like a high-level emergency room

Currently, the medical flight service is in operation 12 hours a day, but as of Nov. 1, 2023, First Flight will be operational around-the-clock, serving a 150-mile radius of Greybull. That’s an area that includes Yellowstone National Park, which attracts millions of visitors each year.

“Our population triples in the summer,” said Tom Fitzsimmons, one of three full-time flight paramedics with First Flight. Serious motor vehicle accidents involving wild animals are not uncommon, he said. In addition, people who are hiking, hunting, skiing or otherwise enjoying wilderness sometimes find themselves in need of help.

The fully equipped air ambulance can accommodate a patient, two medical attendants and the pilot. A staff of three full-time paramedics and three full-time nurses trained with HELP Flight and have advanced training to manage a patient while in flight just as they would in a high-level emergency room.

Fitzsimmons, 59, has served as a paramedic for five years, after retiring from a career in petroleum engineering. He said he was attracted to First Flight because of the opportunity to sharpen his skills as a caregiver. In its first few weeks, crews have already responded to life-threatening emergencies in hard-to-reach wilderness areas.

It’s rewarding work, he said. “I just wanted a chance to help people. Life is short, and it’s an opportunity to give back.”