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Vanderbilt LifeFlight to open emergency helicopter base in Cookeville, Tennessee

Vanderbilt LifeFlight Press Release | April 28, 2016

Estimated reading time 4 minutes, 19 seconds.

In partnership with Cookeville Regional Medical Center (CRMC), Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and Vanderbilt LifeFlight will soon be expanding its footprint to serve the Upper Cumberland region by adding an emergency helicopter base in Cookeville, Tennessee.
CRMC CEO Paul Korth said the addition of the helicopter is a “win-win” for everyone, including CRMC patients in the Upper Cumberland region.
“Our partnership with Vanderbilt continues to grow since we affiliated with them four years ago,” Korth said. “We affiliated so that we could expand access to health services and resources for our region, and this project is just another example of how our facilities can work together for the benefit of the Upper Cumberland. It’s a win-win for Vanderbilt, CRMC and our patients.”
CRMC is a national award-winning, state-of-the-art regional medical center that serves the 14-county Upper Cumberland region. Services offered include interventional cardiology, cardiovascular/thoracic surgery, robotic surgery, neurosurgery, critical care and complex cancer treatment. 
The helicopter will have a 120-mile response area from Cookeville, and it will transport patients who require advanced medical and surgical care from prehospital scenes and hospitals in the region back to CRMC. 
Sullivan Smith, M.D., CRMC emergency department medical director said the placement of the helicopter in Cookeville is a natural “next-step” in the Vanderbilt/CRMC relationship.
“As Vanderbilt and CRMC become closer partners in patient care, Vanderbilt’s opening of an emergency helicopter base in Cookeville is a logical next step for us as we work to improve patient care together,” Smith said. “The addition of the LifeFlight base here in Cookeville provides an extension of the relationship and developing network between our hospitals. The primary purpose of the Cookeville LifeFlight base will be to bring patients from the Upper Cumberland who require advanced medical and surgical care from prehospital scenes and hospitals in the region to CRMC. 
“It will, of course, also be available to meet other calls for aeromedical services, which may arise.”
Stephan Russ, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine at VUMC and associate chief of staff for Vanderbilt University Hospital, praised the support received from CRMC officials in establishing the new base.
“We look forward to continuing Vanderbilt LifeFlight’s commitment to excellence in education, patient care and patient safety with our hospital, EMS [emergency medical services] and 911 colleagues throughout the Upper Cumberland region,” said Russ. “For more than 32 years, Vanderbilt LifeFlight has been delivering industry-leading medical care as a community asset, and we trust that our expansion into Cookeville will strengthen the access, reach and viability of the program for many more years to come.”
A site for the new base, which is expected to open this summer, will be announced at a later date.
Since 1984 Vanderbilt LifeFlight, accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Trauma Systems, has flown more than 38,000 patients. LifeFlight transports to any medically appropriate hospital and has immediate access to the region’s only Level I trauma center, burn center and children’s hospital, all at VUMC. 
Vanderbilt LifeFlight provides hospital-based emergency air medical transport services throughout Tennessee and Southern Kentucky, with remote helicopter bases in Lebanon, Tullahoma, Clarksville, Murfreesboro, Mt. Pleasant and Henry County, Tennessee. LifeFlight also operates an airplane base at Nashville International Airport and has five ground ambulances as well as an event medicine division.
Air Methods Corporation provides aviation, fuel, maintenance, aircraft, dispatch, billing and EMS licensure while VUMC provides all medical staffing, patient care and clinical services for Vanderbilt LifeFlight.

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