Emergency Medical Flight Crews Provide Life Saving Service to Rural Areas

Our Emergency Department team members work fast to provide life saving and stabilization services to trauma patients, but just as important is the rapid response of regional medical flight crews. There is no doubt that the residents of Columbia County, and rural Washington State in general, rely heavily on the men and women supporting the emergency medical flight organizations.

In the United States, one in 5 women will have a stroke; Patients suffering a stroke require rapid transportation to the nearest stroke center. In some cases we are able to administer a brain saving drug called tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) and then transport via the fastest method possible, which is often helicopter. Columbia County is serviced by both Northwest Medstar and Lifeflight.