It is going to take a lot to keep Mayo One from Austin.
A new global positioning system installed in Mayo Clinic's Mankato-based helicopter -- one of four
owned by Mayo -- allows the helicopter to pick up patients in Austin under lower-visibility conditions than before.
That is good news for Mower County residents and Austin Medical Center.
"What it means for us, is that in the past when the weather was not good, those patients that were critical enough to need Mayo One, had to go by ground," said Robben Crabtree, nurse manager for the AMC urgent care and emergency room. "It's about 45 minutes by ground and 13 minutes by air, and with our acute heart attack patients, the sooner we are able to get to Mayo, every minute means muscle for the heart to be able to recover."
Post-Bulletin by Sarah Doty, 08/29/09
Tags: Mayo Clinic Rochester