
Deming Fire Chief Edgar Davalos said the recent agreement with Native Air has been a boost to the emergency response capabilities of his department.
The system for responding to medical emergencies begins with Central Dispatch, the entity receiving 911 calls.
Emergency medical crews are then sent to the scene, to assess whether the medical situation is cardiac, trauma, medical, stroke or level one. Level one is classified as a grave injury, acute cardiac or acute stroke.
In the case of a grave injury, the helicopter may be on standby at the airport or the first responders may call the helicopter to be on air-standby, where the helicopter hovers over a scene.
The helicopter can then quickly transport a patient to Las Cruces, El Paso, Tucson, Albuquerque or other locations.
Previously a transport helicopter had to be sent from a base location somewhere other than Deming, adding costly response time.