Medical airlift outfit to serve Tucumcari

A new Tucumcari-based medical airlift service will provide a timely response during critical medical situations.

QCS photo: Jerrene Bradley

Western States Air Medical services out of Las Vegas has stationed their aircrafts in Tucumcari. The medical flight service is owned/operated by Steven and Susan Spande

"We saw a great opportunity for the service being stationed in Tucumcari," said Scott Stamper, public relations with Care Flight.

Stamper said after they visited with residents they came to realize a locally-based medical air service was a necessity for the community. He said flight crews live near the hospital and their response time is around seven to 10 minutes.

Stamper said the helicopter based in Tucumcari is an Agusta A119, which can do a flight to Amarillo in about 30 minutes. He said flights to Albuquerque would take less that an hour and flights to Lubbock would take about an hour.

Stamper said the company was established in 2002 in Bullhead City, Ariz., by a surgeon named Blake Stamper and since that time they now have 21 rural-based stations.

Stamper said Care Flight has a maintenance technician based here in Tucumcari.

"Having a service like Care Flight come into Tucumcari is a great thing," said Jim Schumaker of Tucumcari. Schumacker said getting a critical patient the care they need in a timely and efficient manner would save more lives.