KALISPELL - Kalispell’s Logan Health’s A.L.E.R.T. program reached a special milestone this week recording their 20,000 medical discharge.
A.L.E.R.T. — which stands for Advanced Life Support and Emergency Rescue Team — operates two helicopters and two fixed-wing aircraft.
Founded in 1975, the A.L.E.R.T. program was the second hospital-based advanced life support helicopter system in the United States, and the first of its kind in rural America.
Eight fixed-wing pilots, five helicopter pilots, and up to 30 nurses and paramedics make up the A.L.E.R.T. team.
A.L.E.R.T. Chief Pilot Matt Weller has flown close to 2,000 missions over a 14-year span. He’s flown rescue missions all across Northwest Montana.
“The A.L.E.R.T. mission profile can be anything from a somewhat minor injury but in a very remote location to a very large trauma with a car accident or even a medical injury in a remote location, Logan Pass, the Bob Marshall Wilderness area, we cover all of those,” said Weller.
Weller said A.L.E.R.T. averages five medical discharges a day during the busy summer months.
