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Contact: Jennifer Hardcastle, RN
REACH Director of Program Development
(707) 324-2400
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
REACH Expands Sacramento Service,
Makes Surrounding Regions Safer
REACH Opens Two New Bases, North and South of Sacramento
SACRAMENTO — March 17, 2005
---REACH Air Medical Services is expanding its service in the SacramentoValley, opening two new bases to better serve the areas where its aircraft receive the most calls.
REACH’s new bases will be at the YubaCountyAirport in Olivehurst (approximately 30 miles north of Sacramento)
and at the LodiAirport (approximately 30 miles south of downtown Sacramento). These new locations and additional aircraft will mean shorter response times in the areas where most of REACH’s transport calls
originate and additional air transport capacity in times of critical need.
In 2004, REACH’s Sacramento-based helicopter received nearly 550 calls for service. Of those calls,
more than 220 were for service in areas well south of Sacramento. In fact, all but four of REACH’s 2004 calls for service were outside of Sacramento’s core urban area (more than 10 miles from the
U.C.DavisMedicalCenter). REACH officials determined that entire region would be better served if helicopter bases were moved to Sacramento’s outlying communities.
“We’re excited to be able to extend our services to reach a wider area with faster responses,” said REACH
CEO Jim Adams. “Our helicopters’ new homes will allow us to more quickly help those patients who need us most.”
REACH’s new base at the YubaCountyAirport in Olivehurst is only a 15-minute flight from Sacramento, and it
brings life-saving emergency air transportation to a region that has not had a dedicated air ambulance presence.
Serious accidents are prevalent along the Highway 99 corridor both north and south of Sacramento, making quick
and efficient emergency responses critical. The new bases will allow REACH to better assist trauma victims who are further from Sacramento’s emergency facilities. At the same time, the new bases will
also put the helicopters closer to the hospitals most often requesting a facility-to-facility transfer for a patient in need of specialty emergency care.
“We know time is of the essence when it comes to saving lives,” continued Adams. “With these new
bases and new aircraft, we will be able to help more people in more ways – and arrive where we are needed faster.”
The new REACH base at the Lodi airport will open April 18th. The new REACH base at the
YubaCounty airport will open May 2nd. In addition, REACH is seriously considering the addition of a fixed- wing aircraft to the area at its current base at Sacramento’s ExecutiveAirport. The final
decision to place the REACH new fixed-wing aircraft at Sacramento’sExecutiveAirport will be made in the very near future. REACH also maintains emergency aircraft in Concord, Lakeport, Santa Rosa
and Redding.
REACH Air Medical Services (www.reachairambulance.com)
is headquartered in Santa Rosa and provides helicopter and fixed wing patient transportation for critically ill and injured patients. Since REACH’s inception in 1987, the company has performed more than
25,000 air ambulance missions and has developed a specialty in serving pediatric and neonatal patients. Initially, REACH was a program operated by Santa RosaMemorialHospital, but now serves hospitals
throughout Northern California.
REACH was one of the first air transport programs to be fully CAMTS certified (www.camts.org) and has one of the most aggressive safety programs in the air ambulance industry. REACH was also the first air ambulance company to receive FAA approval to
respond in low-visibility conditions using established GPS routing procedures. REACH continues to be a leader in air ambulance safety, currently installing Night Vision Goggle equipment in its aircraft to
increase night flying safety.
REACH is privately owned and operated.
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