Sanford Unveils 4 New Airplanes - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

Sanford's Health LifeFlight aviation fleet has a new upgrade.. They're now the proud owner of four fixed wing aircraft. The airplanes not only get a workout but they're improving the way Sanford Health provides healthcare.

It's the King Air B-200 and this is just one of four that Sanford now owns... two in Fargo and two in Sioux Falls. It may seem like a bit much, but the aircraft allow Sanford to provide healthcare all over the region and the country.

"It gives the local area very good coverage from the medical side we can go out and bring people back to the specialists that are based in the Fargo in the Sioux Falls area in a very rapid manner," explains Sanford LifeFlight pilot Troy Seidel.

These planes travel at nearly 300 miles per hour they not only transport patients much faster than a helicopter but they can also fly when the helicopters cant.

"We can fly in the clouds the ice and conditions," Seidel says. "Circumvent the thunder storms where the helicopters fly in more of the local area."

It may look like a normal plane from the outside but inside it's set up more like an ambulance able to accommodate two patients carry up to five medical crew in addition to the two pilots that fly the plane.

Medical aircraft like these not only provide a sense of ease for people living in out-lying area's.. But they work best in regions like ours.  Pilot Seidel says, "The response times for the patients when you can get them from a hospital in Bemidji to a hospital in Fargo in 25 minutes... far out way the ground transport times."