Area Will Rely On An Aircraft Stationed In Butte, MT

The Life Flight Northwest MedStar air ambulance that is stationed in Missoula, MT will be removed from the company's base at that airport at the end of the year.

The Montana Standard reports that the aircraft has been providing air ambulance services out of Missoula since 2014. But a recent examination of the company's resources found that there was a great deal of crossover between the Missoula airplane and one stationed in Butte, MT. Life Flight Network Chief Customer Officer Justin Dillingham said that the Missoula plane was most often traveling to the south where the Butte aircraft is stationed, and only a very few patients had been flown out of Butte.

He said that the Butte plane will be used to transport patients from Missoula, or other providers in the state might be used if the Life Flight Network aircraft is unavailable. He said there would be no real difference noticed by patients or their families.

Patients who are too critical to wait for the plane to arrive will be transported by helicopter, Dillingham said.

The company did not say what it intended to do with the airplane it was taking out of service in Missoula.

FMI: www.lifeflight.org