Wellstar Health System is expanding its Augusta-based AirCare air ambulance service to include a second helicopter that primarily serves Metro Atlanta and the western half of Georgia. The new aircraft is based at the Griffin-Spalding County Airport near Wellstar Spalding Medical Center. In addition to serving people from Macon to LaGrange to Marietta to Roswell, the helicopter supports rural Georgia hospitals whose patients need sophisticated intensive care level rapid transit.
Equipped for adult, pediatric and neonatal life-saving care, the air-ambulance expands Wellstar’s ability to provide rapid emergency transport services throughout the southeast. Wellstar already has the largest integrated trauma network in Georgia with two Level I Trauma Centers (Wellstar Kennestone Regional and Wellstar MCG Health Medical Centers), one Level II (Wellstar North Fulton Medical Center), one Level III (Wellstar Cobb Medical Center), three Level IV (Wellstar West Georgia, Wellstar Paulding and Wellstar Spalding Medical Centers) and a Pediatric Level II Trauma Center (Wellstar Golisano Children’s Hospital of Georgia).
"Wellstar is bridging the gap between emergency medical situations and world-class care when every second counts," said Dr. Phillip Coule, vice president of medical affairs at Wellstar MCG Health. "Expanding Wellstar AirCare to connect east, central and west Georgia will offer a lifeline to patients who must be quickly transported for specialty care, whether it’s a newborn baby with life-threatening complications or the victim of a traumatic accident."
Strategically based in Spalding County, the second Wellstar AirCare air ambulance will quickly reach emergency scenes, Wellstar medical centers, hospitals that participate in the Wellstar Digital Care Network and other hospitals with a need for air transport. The Wellstar Digital Care Network supports hospitals in rural communities with remote access to specialists through Wellstar MCG Health and Augusta University’s Medical College of Georgia (MCG) Center for Digital Health.
“Wellstar AirCare is unique in that it has the flexibility to treat patients of all ages with a wide range of medical conditions across urban, suburban and rural Georgia,” said Zack Lancaster, executive director of air medical transport and a flight nurse and paramedic. “Providing people with the medical care they need is a special experience. But being able to provide that care in the most urgent circumstances that only a helicopter can offer, whether it’s newborns or kids or adults, is one of the most rewarding things that I’ve done.”
AirCare flight crews live at the base station and are on call 24/7, so they can immediately respond to the scene of an emergency. Wellstar AirCare crews also fly by Instrument Flight Rules, which require sophisticated flight instruments and navigation systems that enable them to transport patients in low-visibility weather conditions.
Wellstar AirCare flight paramedics and flight nurses have extensive trauma and critical care experience. With the air ambulances' capabilities, they deliver sophisticated lifesaving care beyond what most ground-based ambulances can offer. These services include infusions of whole blood which can be critical for patients experiencing severe blood loss, transportation of newborn in an isolate, and patients on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) heart and lung bypass machine.
“One of the remarkable things about our Wellstar AirCare helicopters is they can accommodate neonatal, pediatric and adult patients who require specialized care such as blood transfusions or ECMO. These technologies in a hospital are amazing, but when you put them on a helicopter, the care that we can provide leaves you speechless,” said Dr. Coule.
Wellstar AirCare was established in 2021. Since its inception, it has transported more than 2,200 patients and flown more than 150,000 miles across five states: Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Alabama.
