Gundersen will permanently house one MedLink helicopter in Decorah

The Gundersen Health Systems Board of Trustees has approved the purchase of a second MedLink helicopter. The move means the MedLink helicopter, which has been based at the Decorah Airport, will be permanently based in Decorah by the end of 2017.

MedLink AIR program director Stephanie Hill says Gundersen will continue to lease a helicopter until the new helicopter is purchased and ready for service and additional crew members are hired and trained.

When the new, second helicopter and crews are ready the one at the Decorah Airport and one at the Sparta-Fort McCoy Airport will be in service 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Hill says the new system will be able to handle a greater volume of flights from regional hospitals and accident scenes and, in most cases, shorten the response times, "giving us better patient outcomes for time-critical emergencies such as stroke, heart attack and trauma."

So far in 2016, the MedLink helicopters have responded to over 500 calls.