29A.79 Emergency helicopter ambulance.

1. The adjutant general shall develop a plan within the Iowa national guard for an emergency helicopter ambulance service to transport persons who require emergency medical treatment or require emergency transfer between hospitals and to transport emergency medical supplies, equipment, or personnel.

2. The Iowa national guard shall be requested to provide the emergency helicopter ambulance service from its available staffed helicopters when the plan is implemented on order of the governor at the request of the state patrol, or the administrative heads of the hospitals located in Iowa, unless the Iowa national guard does not have a staffed helicopter available or is in active service under the armed forces of the United States.

3. The adjutant general shall establish policies and procedures to carry out the provisions of this section. The policies and procedures shall provide that the emergency helicopter ambulance service shall be coordinated and supplemental to, and not competitive with conventional ambulance services. In determining whether an emergency exists the policies and procedures shall give reasonable consideration to the risk of death or permanent injury due to delayed treatment resulting from remoteness of an area from any hospital, the absence or unavailability of conventional ambulance services, and the distance to be traveled in a transfer between hospitals.

[C73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §29A.79]

98 Acts, ch 1074, §2; 2005 Acts, ch 35, §31; 2017 Acts, ch 54, §76