Wiregrass Life Flight Comes to the Wiregrass

Matt Boster

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Posted by: Matt Boster
Date: Sep 23 2015 12:00 PM

Pilcher’s Ambulance Service has partnered with Air Medical Resource Group (AMRG) to create Wiregrass Life Flight. The helicopter will be based in Dothan and will be capable of responding to patient transport needs as far as 300 miles away but will primarily serve lower Alabama, southwestern Georgia and northern Florida.

"A locally based air medical helicopter will be a tremendous benefit to our community," said Joey Pilcher, owner of Pilcher’s Ambulance Service. "This program is good for Dothan, good for Houston County and good for our surrounding counties and neighbors. It will allow us on trauma alerts to have a rapid response with highly qualified personnel. 

Dr. Fred Pich who serves as the Southeast Alabama EMS Medical Director and Pilcher’s Ambulance Service Medical Director was recently asked to provide medical direction for Wiregrass Life Flight. Dr. Pich recognizes the need for this program in Dothan. "The Wiregrass Life Flight program will be an invaluable resource for not only the Dothan community but also the entire Tri-state area for providing advanced emergent pre-hospital care as well as critical interfaculty transfers."

Pilcher chose to partner with AMRG because of the company’s experience and strong commitment to patient care. "As I got to know AMRG and its leadership team, I realized that this company started in many ways just like Picher’s Ambulance Service. I was very impressed with the commitment that AMRG was willing to make as far as patient care being paramount."

"We are excited for the opportunity of serving Dothan and Houston County. We recognized early on in our evaluation of the area that the most successful program possible would be a partnership between the helicopter company and Pilcher’s Ambulance Service. It became even more obvious after we got to know Joey Pilcher and his staff. It’s an honor to partner with such a dedicated and successful company," stated Shanon Pollock, AMRG’s Vice President of Business Development.

Pilcher’s Ambulance Service has provided ground ambulance transport service to Dothan and Houston County for more than 50 years. Together with AMRG’s 40 years of air medical service, the two programs can draw from 90 years of combined experience in making Wiregrass Life Flight the premier air medical program in the Southeast. 

Pollock went on to say, "We are excited to serve the hospitals in Dothan and plan to offer: - our services throughout the region to supplement an already excellent EMS network."

AMRG is the fourth largest air medical provider in the nation. They provide fixed-wing and rotor-wing services to 16 states and transport more than 14,000 patients annually. The organization’s mission is to provide safe, compassionate and efficient air medical transportation.

 

 

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