Ministry Health Care has announced that its helicopter service in the Northwoods has expanded to 24-hour coverage.

It was only a year ago that Ministry Spirit Medical Transportation introduced a second air ambulance to better serve the needs of patients in Northern Wisconsin. Ministry Spirit’s fleet also includes Spirit Air 1 which is based in Marshfield at Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital.

The implementation of the second helicopter has greatly decreased response time to the region’s trauma and specialty referral centers in Marshfield and Weston/Wausau. In the first year of service, Spirit Air 2 impacted the lives of many area residents.

“Moving to 24-hour coverage allows us to provide an even greater level of service to area residents and fulfill our promise of keeping patients first in everything we do,” said Charlie Kotke, northern region manager of Ministry Spirit Medical Transportation Services. “Our goal is to have the patient to the trauma center in under an hour so decreased response times will definitely benefit the patient and save lives.”

According to Dr. Stewart Watson, president and CEO of Ministry Medical Group, “The expanded hours will benefit critically ill and injured patients. Time is a critical factor in the treatment outcome for trauma, heart attack, and stroke victims and this will dramatically reduce the time it takes to transport patients to the closest appropriate tertiary hospital.”

Ministry Spirit performs a wide variety of missions, including inter-hospital transport, emergency scene calls, providing air medical resources to trauma patients at the scene of an accident, and education outreach to the EMS community and area schools.

To accommodate the increased air ambulance service, additional staff, including paramedics, flight nurses and pilots, were added. Ministry Spirit Medical Transportation has been providing efficient, safe medical transport for over 18 years.