Air Evac Lifeteam’s Bowling Green base has relocated its operations from the Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport to The Medical Center.
Thursday was the first day at the new location for Air Evac, which provides on-scene medical care at emergencies, helicopter transport to medical facilities and critical care inter-facility transfers.
Tim Booher, program director for the air ambulance company’s Bowling Green base, said the move should benefit Air Evac crew members and patients by allowing closer access to professionals in the medical industry.
“This move enabled us to be there in the center of the health care industry,” Booher said. “It puts us closer to the medical professionals there, puts us working hand-in-hand.”
The Bowling Green base employs a crew that includes a registered nurse, a paramedic and a pilot, who are on call at all times.
Crew members are trained in advanced pre-hospital care and the helicopters feature state-of-the-art medical equipment.
Booher said the new aircraft and crew quarters are based in a renovated building at 347 U.S. 31-W By-Pass, Suite B, in a part of the facility that also houses The Medical Center’s ambulance service and is adjacent to the Emergency Medical Services facility.
Booher said that in addition to the renovations that were conducted in preparation for the relocation, an alternate helipad was constructed on site.
Air Evac established a Bowling Green base in March 2006, where it was originally housed at 2325 Airway Court at the airport.
The base serves Warren and six other counties in Kentucky, along with a portion of Tennessee, Booher said, and is one of nine such bases in the state.
While the aircraft and crew quarters are now based at The Medical Center, the base’s regional maintenance department will remain at the airport, Booher said.
Airport director Rob Barnett was unavailable for comment.
