ARCH Air Medical Service

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ARCH Air Medical Service, Inc. is an Emergency Medical Service (EMS) that provides critical care air ambulance service in Missouri, Illinois and the surrounding regions. Air ambulance programs (also known as Medevac) offer transport by helicopter (rotor-wing or sling-wing) or fixed-wing aircraft. ARCH Air was the twelfth program in the nation to offer such services when it began operating in March 1979. Transporting approximately 4,200 patients per year by rotorwing, ARCH aircraft are staffed by a pilot, nurse and paramedic. Flights are 80% inter-facility (hospital to hospital) and 20% scene.

Transport is also provided for specialty teams from Barnes-Jewish OB, Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, St. John's Regional Medical Center Neonatal, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, St. Francis Medical Center NICU, and Southeast Missouri Hospital NICU.

[edit] History

March 1979: The program began operations as "MARC" (Medical Air Rescue Corps) and was based at Saint Louis University Hospital. MARC began operations flying the Sikorsky S-55.
1980: MARC replaces the Sikorsky_S-55 with the Bell JetRanger Helicopter.
August 1987: MARC becomes a Not-for-profit consortium sponsored by St. Louis' three adult trauma centers (Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. John's Regional Medical Center and Saint Louis University Hospital). The name "ARCH" (Area Rescue Consortium of Hospitals) was selected to identify the cooperative effort.
1989: Paramedic added to the crew mix of Pilot/Registered Nurse.
1990: ARCH replaces the Bell JetRanger with the MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 Aircraft, offering cabin class, twin-engine, space, speed and safety.
1990 also saw the addition of 'fixed-wing' services when it added a Beechcraft King Air for longer distance transports (100-500 miles from base), flights in inclement weather which prohibit rotor wing flights and specialty teams.
1999: ARCH gains national recognition for its accomplishments in quality of service when it receives accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS). Of eight air ambulance programs in Missouri, five have CAMTS accreditation and two are operated by ARCH Air Medical Service, Inc.
2000: ARCH Air Medical Service, Inc. is acquired by Air Methods Corporation, which operates air ambulance programs across the nation. 2000 also saw the acquisition of LifeBeat Air Medical, from Southeast Missouri Hospital.