SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb., ― Regional West Medical Center’s Air Link air ambulance service has again been awarded a full three-year accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS). The commission is a nationally recognized organization that ensures medical transport programs meet national standards for safety, education, and training.

As of July 2022, Air Link is one of four CAMTS-accredited medical transport programs in Nebraska and has been accredited since 2001. Nationwide, 164 programs have earned CAMTS accreditation.

“The Air Link program prides itself on meeting or exceeding CAMTS standards and continues to maintain this very important accreditation,” said John Mentgen, president and CEO Regional West Health Services. “The CAMTS survey is vigorous and reviews numerous areas in which a certain standard must be met to receive accreditation.”

Patient care and safety are Air Link’s top priorities The team holds monthly safety meetings that include pilots, mechanics, flight crew, Air Link management, the medical director, and the Transfer Center. In addition to flight critiques, meetings include educational topics that pertain to safety, such as the use of night vision goggles and going through case scenarios.

“The recertification process was thorough,” said Peter Meyer, MD, Air Link Medical Director and a Regional West Physicians Clinic emergency medicine physician. “In preparing for CAMTS recertification, it gives our program an opportunity to step back and look at our processes and service as a whole.”

Air Link became an integral part of Regional West’s Trauma Services program in November of 1995. Air Link is staffed by highly trained pilots, flight nurses, and flight paramedics who provide monitoring, critical care intervention, and advanced life support procedures to critically ill or injured adult and pediatric patients. The program operates throughout a five-state region including Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota, Kansas, and Colorado.

Under FAA Part 135, Air Link flies a Bell 407GX helicopter maintained and operated by Med-Trans, Corp., and a Pilatus PC-12 airplane maintained and operated by Guardian Flight.

Regional West Health Services in Scottsbluff, Neb., is the parent company of Regional West Medical Center, a 188-bed regional referral center and the only Level II Trauma Center in Nebraska west of Kearney. As the region’s only tertiary referral medical center, Regional West offers care that spans more than 32 medical specialties provided by over 28 physician clinics. With nearly 300 in-network providers and approximately 2,000 staff members, Regional West provides comprehensive and innovative health care services for the people of western Nebraska and the neighboring states of Colorado, South Dakota, and Wyoming.