Both Would Be Near Remote Communities To Facilitate Transport Of Trauma Patients

San Juan County, NM, is eyeing two parcels of land for the potential construction of helicopter landing zones near remote communities. The LZs would offer a convenient rendezvous and transfer point for patients being transported by ambulance to be placed aboard medevac helicopters.

The landing zones would be near the communities of Navajo Dam and Nageezi, NM, according to a report appearing in the Farmington, NM, Daily Times. Currently, pilots flying for Air Care, the helicopter service serving San Juan Regional hospital, are forced to land on highways near those two communities to pick up patients. Construction of the helipads would take those landings off the highways, increasing safety for all involved. But County Executive Officer Kim Carpenter said that the main holdup in building the helipads is their proximity to the state roads. The state must approve their construction before they can get started.

At present, there are no designated landing zones for helicopters not adjacent to medical buildings in the county.

The regional hospital has been working with smaller hospitals and clinics on Native-American tribal land to build the landing zones, and hopes to be able to increase the number of the helipads in some of the more remote areas of the Navajo Nation.

FMI: www.sjcounty.net