Native Air 35, based in Alamogordo, New Mexico, has welcomed a brand-new Airbus H125 B3e aircraft, delivering faster response times, improved performance and advanced capabilities to support patients needing critical care. The Native Air programme is part of Air Methods, the USA's leading air medical service provider, which recently launched a multi-year initiative to upgrade its fleet.

“This aircraft has a more powerful engine and a different transmission from our previous helicopter,” says Air Methods area manager Zach McGinnis. “It performs better in hot weather and high altitudes, making it an exceptional asset for the White Sands area.”

The H125 B3e boasts enhanced lift and speed capabilities. It can carry approximately 550 pounds more at 10,000 feet of elevation than Native Air's previous aircraft, allowing it to carry heavier patients, more medical equipment or more fuel, depending on the patient's needs. This improved lift performance is particularly important at the high elevation of southern New Mexico. The aircraft also travels 20 knots faster, allowing the crew to respond more quickly and get patients to higher-level care in less time when every minute counts.

Enhanced avionics give pilots more precise engine control, as well as the ability to monitor engine parameters more easily, making flight safer for crews and patients. It also has obstacle detection features that help identify terrain, antennas and other potential hazards along the flight path.

“Because this aircraft allows us to move throughout the region faster than ever before, we can get to people more quickly to provide critical care when every minute counts,” remarks Air Methods senior account executive Lia Castagna-Munoz. “Together with the Native Air bases in Las Cruces, Deming, Silver Springs, Carlsbad, Roswell and Artesia, as well as our sister base Fire STAR in El Paso, we provide an ecosystem of care across southern New Mexico to serve local communities with the highest level of clinical excellence.”

Equipped as a flying ICU, the aircraft carries the medical equipment and medications the Native Air team needs to provide lifesaving care for trauma, cardiac, stroke, paediatric, neonatal, high-risk obstetrics and other critical patients. It recently added a Zoll AutoPulse CPR device to its list of industry-leading medical equipment, allowing for in-flight mechanical CPR. It also carries whole blood that can be administered in-flight for patients suffering from severe blood loss.

Air Methods is dedicated to serving communities across New Mexico and beyond. The company is in-network with most health insurance providers, and the Air Methods patient advocacy programme works with all patients, regardless of insurance status, to help ensure the affordability of air medical services. Patients do not need a membership to be transported by any air medical company.