CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WINA) – UVA recently received a new and improved Pegasus.
The rescue helicopter’s improvements include advanced safety and flight management systems as well as a larger cabin. The extra space enables the care team to transport patients with complex health needs, including patients that need an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine to help their heart and lungs function. The larger cabin also makes it easier to load and unload UVA Health’s transport incubator for critically ill newborns requiring care at UVA Health Children’s.
“One of the new missions or mantras of UVA Health is providing hope to all, and that’s really what this does,” say Jermaine Clayborne, who directs Pegasus Air and Ground. “That sounds a little dramatic but that’s really what it is. Having these resources allows us to say we can help.”
What takes an ambulance an hour takes Pegasus just minutes. Its coverage area is 120 air miles as a rule, but it occasionally will go farther.
Its current destinations include Tennessee and Maryland.
