ALERT missions are challenging and unique

The Flathead’s ALERT emergency medical helicopter is unique, pilot Daron Larsen says.

“It’s not typical by any means,” he said. “Most helicopter EMS crews won’t hike in or rescue people.”

Larsen, who joined the program here last July after 15 years of flying a TV helicopter in Seattle and Portland, said ALERT crews will hike four or five miles in Glacier National Park in summertime missions to reach an injured person.

“We carry swiftwater rescue equipment and avalanche gear for skiers and snowmobilers,” he said.

The helicopter often lands in deep snow, nose down to keep the rotor high, sometimes sinking right to the belly. Larsen said he landed the helicopter at the base of the Hellroaring Chair at Whitefish Mountain Resort this winter.

“It’s not a bad hole to fly into,” he said.

With only a single engine on the Bell 407, ALERT is prohibited by the Federal Aviation Administration from carrying “live loads,” typically needed in mountain rescues. Glacier Park turned to Canadian crews in the past for help in “short hauling,” but that role is now filled by the Two Bear Air helicopter, Larsen said.

Larsen’s been flying helicopters for about 22 years. He said he got the itch to fly one after watching a heli-logging operation in the Cascade Range of Washington when he was eight. He worked for several years as a fisherman in Alaska before signing up for helicopter school when he was 24.

“I paid out of pocket — about $30,000,” he said. “Today, people pay $70,000.”

Missions in the Flathead can sometimes be intense, Larsen said — flying in the mountains, sometimes wearing night-vision goggles. But he says he really enjoys it here.

“I love to fish, hunt, bike — I rode 50 miles on my bike yesterday,” he said. “Living here is a dream for me.”

Larsen notes that the flight paramedic and flight nurse assist him when landing by looking out the side windows and reporting clearances.

“It’s a real team effort,” he said.

The ALERT crew consists of a pilot, a flight nurse and a flight paramedic who assists the pilot navigate with GPS and map reading, he said.

Flight paramedic Chris Sobin also moved to the Flathead last year. His career began as an EMT firefighter in Yoakum, Texas in 1996. He was working in Price, Utah when a position opened up with ALERT.

“A two-year paramedic program is similar to an RN level certificate,” Sobin said. “But there’s additional training for a flight paramedic because you have much sicker patients and travel long distances. It requires more critical care medicine, extensive pharmacology, respiratory skills, knowledge about mechanical ventilators and advanced cardiac equipment.”

Sobin said he’s been very busy since he joined the ALERT program.

“We’ve had as many as seven helicopter calls in one day in the summer,” he said.

ALERT typically responds to car wrecks far from the hospital, but also to life-threatening cases in rural areas poorly served by ground ambulance.

“We can meet an ambulance on the way to the hospital and speed their delivery,” Sobin said. “That’s especially critical with a heart attack.”

Sobin recalled with pride helping bring a man back to life after he went into cardiac arrest shortly after landing at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

Like Larsen, Sobin loves the many outdoor activities here in the Flathead. He fishes, hunts and skis at Big Mountain. He also enjoys his job.

“I love it,” he said. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

The ALERT ambulance (Advanced Life-support Emergency Rescue Team) has logged more than 15,000 missions and saved more than 1,400 lives in its 39-year history.

The 37th annual ALERT Banquet, its main fundraising event, will take place in the Trade Center Building of the Flathead County Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 25, with a reception starting at 5:30 p.m. and a sit-down dinner at 7 p.m.

The banquet typcially draws about 700 people, with silent and live auctions featuring in the past fine art, wines, handmade goods, dinner certificates, vacation give-aways, a dinner train ride, antique guns and a year-long car lease.

Tickets are $300 per couple available by calling 752-1710 or by calling the ALERT Foundation at 751-6930.