Marshfield Clinic Welcomes New Air Ambulance Service
Friday, June 22nd, 2018 -- 10:27 AM
(WDLB) -Marshfield Clinic has officially welcomed its new air ambulance service.A ribbon-cutting celebration was held yesterday afternoon for the new Life Link Three medical helicopter now based at the Marshfield Medical Center. Brian Hernaman is the medical director for the Marshfield Medical Center, and he says the new Life Link base in the former St. Joseph’s Hospital “Spirit of Marshfield” hangar utilizes existing office space and an existing fuel system facility on the Marshfield campus. And he calls it a perfect fit for Marshfield.
Brian: "We had a pretty rigorous selection process for our air transport partner here at the Marshfield Clinic Health System. And through the process, it became clear that Life Link Three had the best quality, it had the right culture and it definitely is going to be the best fit for the health system. And so, we're very proud to become the tenth member of the Life Link Three Consortium. And Life Link Three is a unique model in that it balances collaboration between competing healthcare systems for the needs of the patient to provide critical care access to the patients throughout their geography."
Amanda Seubert is one of the five flight nurses on the new Life Link Three crew based in Marshfield.
Amanda: "Early on I became a nurse. I just started on the floor. And for my community I became a first responder/EMT and I met some medivac flight nurses. And they just kinda put a bug in my ear on how cool this industry is and then it just slowly become a goal of mine to become a flight nurse. So, they say you need ICU or ER background and I found myself in the ER really soon after that for the last seven years to work to this goal."
Seubert is one of three former E-R nurses who worked in the former St. Joseph’s Hospital and current Marshfield Medical Center before joining the Life Link Three team. Another nurse comes from Minneapolis, and the fifth nurse comes from the Spirit Helicopter team based in Stevens Point.
Marshfield Fire and Rescue is also a partner with Life Link Three, providing ground transports and intercept services for the Marshfield Medical Center. Deputy Chief of E-M-S Steve Bakos (BAY-kuss) says the rest of his department is thrilled with having air ambulance service back in Marshfield.
Steve: "I think most of you know that Marshfield has been without area transport for a little over a year now. So, it's been really great to have Life Link Three come into Marshfield. That was a piece of the puzzle that really was missing while it was gone. Our Mission Statement at the Marshfield Fire Department literally says 'We protect and serve lives and property through assessment, prevention, education response.' I truly believe that having a partnership with the Marshfield Medical Center and Life Link Three, they're going to help us do our job better."
By using its "One Call" system, Hernaman says Life Link Three will continue to work collaboratively with other air medical transport services and county and municipal dispatch centers to send out the most appropriate helicopter. Hernaman says the new Life Link Three will have something the Spirit of Marshfield program did not, a fixed-wing option in case helicopters cannot fly for whatever reason, including certain weather situations.
Marshfield Clinic Health System becomes the tenth member of the Life Link III consortium, and its eighth base throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. Life Link already operates seven helicopter bases??"one in Rice Lake, as well as six in Minnesota.
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