ARCH has unsurpassed safety record

     ARCH began as Medical Air Rescue Corps in 1979 and was based at St. Louis University Hospital. In August 1987, it became a not-for-profit consortium sponsored by Barnes Hospital, St. John's Mercy Medical Center and St. Louis University Hospital, and the name was changed to Area Rescue Consortium of Hospitals - known as ARCH. In April 2000, Air Methods Corp. of Englewood, Colo., purchased ARCH.

     The success of the consortium is what forced it to expand, then to sell.

     "ARCH became so busy that they realized they needed to expand the consortium," said Matt Kasten, ARCH senior communications manager. "They decided to sell the consortium because it was becoming very costly. A used helicopter cost about $2 million and a new one almost $5 million."

     Today, ARCH is the region's only nationally accredited air medical program of its kind and has completed more than 36,000 missions. Headquartered in St. Louis, it has a fully computerized dispatch center, the country's largest fleet of BK-117 medical helicopters and a federally certified maintenance facility.

     It also has an unsurpassed safety record, Kasten said. Each air medical flight is staffed with qualified registered nurses, paramedics or specialists responding from one of six bases in Warrenton, MO, Sullivan, MO, Cape Girardeau, MO, St. Louis, and Sparta and Litchfield in Illinois.

     "ARCH medical transport has been in business for over 24 years and has been accident-free, which is almost unheard of in air medical services and is a wonderful record we are very proud of," Kasten said.

     He attributes the safety record to the high level of training required for mechanics, technicians and pilots.

     ARCH is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems, a national process that focuses on quality of patient care and safety of transport equipment.

     "Our pilots are the best of the best," Kasten said. "And ARCH is also very unique in that we have flight crews with specialized high-level critical care training."

     Flight teams are a resource for ground paramedics, he said. When crews arrive on a scene, they have the equipment and the professionals necessary for critical care assessment and treatment in flight.

© Collinsville Herald Journal 2003