New Janesville Base Enhances Emergency Medical ServicesNew Janesville Base Enhances Emergency Medical Services Janesville, Wis. – UW Health’s Med Flight ambulances have established a new base in Janesville, offering 24/7 emergency medical services to southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Key Features: * Round-the-clock availability * Pediatric and neonatal care team * Doctor and intensive care nurse on every flight * Blood products and advanced equipment on board * Reduced response time to Rockford (10 minutes) compared to previous base in Madison (30 minutes) Importance: * Timely access to specialized care for critical patients * Improved patient outcomes due to reduced response time * Expanded availability of pediatric and neonatal emergency care outside of hospitals Local Impact: * Enhanced emergency medical capabilities for the Janesville community * Faster response times for Rockford and surrounding areas * Collaboration with local healthcare providers, including Mercyhealth’s REACT and OSF’s Life Flight services
JANESVILLE, Wis. (WTVO — UW Health’s Med Flight ambulances are taking off from a new base in Janesville that opened Wednesday.
The new hangar will provide 24/7 emergency medical services to southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
And for the first time, Med Flight’s crew has a pediatric neonatal care team.
“This is actually the first in the state of Wisconsin that is ever located outside of a hospital, and it’s an absolute game changer for neonatal and pediatric care,” said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Andrew Caathers. “It allows us to serve this region of southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois and Rockford much, much better.”
“One of the big advantages is that we have a doctor on every flight,” Caathers continued. “We have a doctor and an intensive care nurse that are part of the crew. We also have a lot of equipment, we carry blood products. So we can take things that otherwise might not be possible to the scene of an accident or to the hospital.”
Caathers said Med Flight helicopters can reach Rockford in 10 minutes, which is 20 minutes faster than flying from the previous headquarters in Madison.
“Those minutes can make a difference, not only in getting them back to Madison or whatever hospital they’re going to, but also with our capabilities and skill sets, we can treat the patient right away. So sometimes that 20-minute difference between where we were and where we are now can really make a difference in the outcome for the patient,” he said.
Danielle Honee, a nurse at Med Flight and a Rockford native, says she’s seen firsthand how life-changing the service can be.
“It’s incredibly important to be in this area, to reach the patients that really need us to get them back to Madison, or wherever. They need 100 percent. Having that flight available and being in the community is absolutely the reason why people are able to survive a lot of different things,” she said.
In addition to UW’s Med Flight service in Janesville, Mercyhealth has a REACT helicopter ambulance that flies out of Rockford; OSF’s Life Flight service is based in Rock Island.
