AirLife Utah medical helicopter service opens operations in Cedar City

Written by Jeff Richards
March 3, 2023

CEDAR CITY — A new air ambulance service recently opened in Cedar City.

AirLife officials, employees and civic officials at the Cedar City base’s ribbon-cutting event, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 22, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

AirLife Utah’s Airlife 3 is an ASTAR medical helicopter that has a range of 160 miles. 

At last week’s ribbon-cutting event at the AirLife Utah hangar at Cedar City Regional Airport, company officials, employees and civic leaders joined in celebrating the arrival of the new service to Cedar City and surrounding areas.

“This is a community-based hospital aircraft, so this is driven and powered by the needs and the wants of the community,” Erik Bornemeier, AirLife Utah account executive, said.

Added AirLife Area Manager Corey Ellis: “We’re ready to go. We’re here 24/7. It’s going to be an amazing thing for your community.”

Cedar City Mayor Garth Green lauded AirLife and the potential it brings.

“On behalf of the city we’re just so proud and pleased that you’re here,” Green said. “This is a great thing for Cedar City and will benefit us for many years.”

AirLife Utah’s Cedar City medical base is the company’s third location in Utah, with the other two in Ogden and Orem. 

AirLife Utah’s parent company, Air Methods, has more than 300 bases nationwide, with operations in 49 states. Air Methods also operates Mercy Air, which has bases in Mesquite, Nevada, as well as locations throughout southern California and Nevada.

AirLife 3 helicopter at Cedar City Regional Airport, Cedar City, Utah, February 2023 | Photo courtesy of AirLife Utah, St. George News / Cedar City News

The helicopter’s three-person crew, who are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems, carry the necessary tools, medications, blood and other supplies needed to provide ICU-level care while in the air.

Bornemeier told Cedar City News that Airlife 3’s first call requesting service came in on the afternoon Feb. 22, just 18 minutes after the base first went live. However, they could not be deployed that day due to snowy weather conditions.  

On Wednesday afternoon, Bornemeier provided an update on how the first week had gone for AirLife’s Cedar City base, with a total of 10 calls for service and five patients transported.

“We’re off to a really, really good start,” he said, adding that the first person transported by AirLife 3 was a patient transported on Saturday from Cedar City Cedar City Hospital to St. George Regional Hospital. 

For more information about AirLife Utah, visit the company’s section on the Air Methods website. 

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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