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- Portneuf Medical Center LifeFlight pilot Ron Fergie said the hospital's new helicopter will enable him to do his job faster and safer than before.

Friday, PMC received the $3.9 million helicopter, an Agusta A109E Power, and hospital officials expect to have it in service within about a month.
The hospital purchased the aircraft with insurance money from a November 2001 LifeFlight helicopter crash which injured pilot Tim Brulotte.
The hospital leased a helicopter shortly after the crash and will return it once pilots are properly trained to fly the new one.


"It's beautiful. It handles like a dream," Fergie said. "This is much more stable, and it's safer."
The helicopter is also capable of cruising at about 170 mph, much faster than the leased craft. Saving time is vital to LifeFlight, which serves a 150-mile radius around Pocatello.

PMC's leased helicopter takes about 75 minutes to fly to Salt Lake City. The new one is capable of making the trip in about 50 minutes.
"It gives us an opportunity to provide a much better service to the community," Fergie said.

Fergie and LifeFlight's other three pilots will each complete at least 10 hours of in-flight training before using the new helicopter on calls.

Patients in the leased helicopter have their lower torsos inside a tunnel. In the new one, the LifeFlight team has easy access to their entire bodies.

PMC's LifeFlight, the state's first air emergency transportation service implemented in 1983, makes about 350 flights a year.

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