AirHeart Services Get New Home: The Air Ambulance Will Operate From the DeFuniak Springs Airport in June
By Heather Civil, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
Jan. 15–DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — The city airport will soon be the new base of operations for AirHeart, the air ambulance that serves Walton County and surrounding areas.
Effective June 1, the helicopter will no longer operate from the Walton County Sheriff ‘s Office substation on U.S. Highway 331 South.
The Denver-based Air Methods company took over operating AirHeart for Sacred Heart Health System at the beginning of the year.
Air Methods, which also operates Okaloosa County-based GULFlight, has plans to improve and expand AirHeart’s services to the area.
The move to the DeFuniak airport on U.S. Highway 90 is the first step toward doing that, said John Holland, Southeast regional director for Air Methods.
The airport is a more central location for the air ambulance than the substation in South Walton, Holland said.
“Our goal is to provide the necessary coverage for the local community,” Holland said.
Sacred Heart’s AirHeart program manager, Ron Mosley, could not be reached for comment.
AirHeart has one helicopter based in Walton County and another in Marianna.
Air Methods will soon purchase new helicopters to replace the two existing choppers, Holland said.
Air Methods also plans to expand the AirHeart program by adding additional helicopters to the fleet sometime in the near future, Holland said.
Each air ambulance costs about $5 million.
The DeFuniak airport will also house a new regional maintenance facility and a pilot/flight crew training center for Air Methods, Holland said.
AirHeart began operations in November 2001. The air ambulance serves Northwest Florida, South Alabama and Southwest Georgia.
Having the air ambulance based at the DeFuniak Airport is a major achievement for Jonathan Dunn, who manages the airport and runs its fixed base of operations.
Dunn has been working to put the small airport on the map by adding services, and part of that effort was getting the air ambulance to base itself there.
“It’s a better place strategically for the helicopter,” Dunn said. “This is the first big step for the fixed base of operations at the airport.”
The move to bring AirHeart to the airport is a further step in upgrading the facility, said Mayor Harold Carpenter.
“It will just be a great (economic) asset,” he said.
Daily News Staff Writer Heather Civil can be reached at 267-8300.
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Copyright (c) 2007, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
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