May 25, 2012
By Bill Lindelof
The CALSTAR air ambulance company at McClellan Park in North Highlands has added a large, high-flying patient transport plane to its fleet.
The nonprofit air-ambulance provider, which serves patients from Santa Barbara to Mendocino to South Lake Tahoe, has acquired a Beechcraft B200 Super King Air, which in its former life was a corporate jet.
The aircraft is powered by two turbine engines, boasts a maximum service altitude of 35,000 feet and can cruise at speeds of more than 345 mph.
The plane will be modified to suit the company’s needs: medical crew seating for four, and advanced life support equipment to carry up to two adult patients or two neonatal incubators.
The cockpit will be improved with weather radar, satellite tracking and telephone and traffic alerting as well as advanced GPS capabilities. The aircraft will also be equipped with a loading system for boarding patients on gurneys.
CALSTAR helicopter and airplane crews perform two kind of missions: transporting patients from accident scenes and transferring patients from smaller hospitals to larger medical centers.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/25/4515763/north-highlands-firm-gets-patient.html#storylink=cpy
Source: THE SACRAMENTO BEE
Date: 2012-05-25