OREGON'S LIFE FLIGHT NETWORK TO OPEN TWO NEW BASES

Life Flight Network, LLC is expanding its 30-year presence in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area to the Southern Willamette Valley and Columbia River Gorge to bring life-saving medical helicopter service to all communities within range of its new bases of operation. Life Flight's new bases at the Eugene Airport and The Dalles Airport will increase the availability of emergency medical helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft in those regions - reducing the transport time of critically ill and injured patients to area hospitals. "This is great news for the growing communities in those areas," said Michael Griffiths, Life Flight Network Executive Director. "Additional Life Flight bases at the Eugene Airport and The Dalles Airport will not only greatly enhance access to air ambulance service for the communities surrounding those airports, it will have the added benefit of increasing access to Life Flight helicopters in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area. Positioning helicopters in the Gorge and Southern Willamette Valley will increase the availability of Life Flight helicopters currently located in Hillsboro and Aurora. With increasing traffic congestion on our freeways, it is getting even more challenging to get patients where they need to go in the shortest amount of time possible." Physicians, nurses, paramedics and other emergency medical providers throughout the region are excited about this new level of service. Traumatic injuries have commonly been the biggest users of medical helicopters, but as treatment options are expanded for patients suffering heart attacks and strokes Life Flight is seeing a greater need for its aircraft. New treatments for a patient experiencing a heart attack or stroke are often times just as time sensitive as getting a trauma patient into surgery. Life Flight plans on beginning service at both of their new bases by mid June. About Life Flight Network – Life Flight (www.lifeflight.org), a CAMTS certified program, is headquartered in Aurora, Oregon. Life Flight was the first hospital based air ambulance on the West Coast and only the fourth such service in the nation. Celebrating 30-years of continuous service, Life Flight has safely transported over 31,000 patients. Life Flight Critical Care Nurses and Paramedics are trained in the emergency transport of high-risk obstetrical patients as well as critically ill and injured pediatric and adult patients. Life Flight Network is owned and operated by the consortium of Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center, Oregon Health & Sciences University, and Providence Health System. Air Methods Corporation, the largest provider of air ambulance pilots and mechanics in the country, holds operational control of Life Flight's helicopters. Aero Air, LLC, widely known for its fixed-wing air ambulance operations, holds operational control of Life Flight's fixed-wing aircraft.

Life Flight Network Eugene Airport in June.

Emergency medical helicopter service coming to Eugene

Monday, March 17, 2008

---

The business of saving lives often involves a race against time.

And beginning this summer, critically ill and injured patients in Lane County will be able to depend on quick responses from emergency medical helicopters stationed around the clock in Eugene.

Springfield officials — who administer the local FireMed ambulance membership program — have signed an agreement with Life Flight Network of Aurora to begin offering emergency air transport from the Eugene Airport in June.

For the past two years, FireMed has contracted with REACH Air Medical of Santa Rosa, Calif. for emergency air service. The main drawback of that arrangement is that REACH’s closest helicopters operate out of Corvallis.

Officials say once Life Flight touches down in Eugene, local response times should be cut by about 15 minutes.

Read more in Tuesday’s Register-Guard.

School Letters Mobilizes Rescue

School Letters misidentified as plane wreck ..

FEMA Grant for Upgrade of GPFire/Rescue Radios

The Grants Pass Department of Public Safety has received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to upgrade radios for the Fire/Rescue Division. The funding will replace hand-held and mobile radios that are an old mix of manufactures and types. The new radios will be compliant with federal regulations which require public safety agencies to switch to narrow band frequencies by the year 2013. The current radios used by the firefighters are not adaptable to the new standard. Jackson County Fire Agencies as well as the Oregon Department of Forestry in Josephine County have already switched to radios that meet the new standard.

The total cost of the communications grant programs is $123,000.00. The grants will provide $110,700.00 and the Department's matching portion is $12,300.00. This will provide for twenty (20) hand held and seven (7) mobile radios along with a radio repeater that will enhance reception and transmission of emergency radio traffic.

This much needed upgrade will allow firefighter radio transmissions to be clearly heard in all of the city as well as the Urban Growth Area. For years the national fire service has cited poor radio reception as a contributor to numerous fire fatalities and injuries. One feature of the new hand held radios will be a "May Day" button that has a distinctive tone that will notify emergency scene commanders and dispatchers in the event of a firefighter becoming disoriented or trapped. These new radios will meet the needs of the Department as Grants Pass continues to expand its geographical boundaries.

The Aid to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program is administered by the Department of Homeland Security through FEMA and was created a number of years ago by Congress to fund firefighting equipment, health and safety programs and educational programs in fire departments across the nation.

I 5 Opens

140 mile stretch of Interstate 5 Closed

I-5 is closed at Ashland Exit 14 due to blizzard conditions and crashes in northern California. The earliest estimate to re-open is Sunday morning.

NB I-5 is also closed in Redding California. The entire 140 mile stretch of Interstate 5 from Ashland, Or to Redding, CAL is experiencing severe winter weather.

SNOW IN Rogue Valley

Snow hit Rogue Valley look like week of cold .

All Schools are Closed ..... Sunday it Started with Rain then turn to Snow and warm up to 37 f and then Snow then 22F froze and snow ..

MERCY FLIGHTS is flighting mission to Kfalls for transfers to Rogue Valley Medical Center...

ODOT Road and Weather Coding

WEATHER CONDITIONS

1 Clear, No Precipitation
2 Partly Cloudy
3 Overcast
4 Ground Fog
5 Intermittent Showers
6 Rain
7 Snow flurries
8 Snowing Hard and Continuously
9 Severe Weather Alert (Dust Storm - Blowing Snow - White Out - Freezing Rain - High Winds - Falling Trees etc)



ROAD SURFACE CONDITIONS

1 Bare Pavement
2 Spots of Ice
3 Black Ice
4 Standing Water or Flooding on Roadway
5 Slush or Pack Breaking up
6 Packed Snow
7 Intentionally left blank
8 Conditional Closure Chains Required - Traction tires are not sufficient
9 Highway Closed

You might hear a report like this: 12-37 for Santiam Pass - 22-76-2-68-C...The first numbers are the temperature, 22 degs. The second set are the weather then the road conditions, in this case Snow Flurries, Packed Snow. The 3rd number is new snow, the 4th number is roadside snow and the last letter is the current Chain Requirement, in this case Chains or Traction tires required.

BAILEY CREEK FIRE CONTAINED

The 250-acre Bailey Creek Fire is 100 percent contained as of this morning. Night shift fire crews completed the fire line and day shift crews are laying hose and attacking hot spots. The fire is located west of the lower Rogue River in the Bailey Creek drainage, 2.5 miles north of Galice.

Four helicopters will continue dipping water from the Rogue River today, so river users are advised to proceed with caution north of Galice. The Merlin-Galice Road will also have fire-related traffic on it, so motorists are advised to drive with care through the fire area.

Fallers are being used today to cut hazardous trees.

The Bailey Creek Fire started Sunday, July 1, and is burning primarily on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Bailey Creek Fire

25 miles northwest of Grants Pass, OR. This grass, brush, and timber fire was caused by a vehicle fire which spread into the wildlands, near the Bailey Creek drainage, just off the Rogue River and near the Rand Visitor Center and Campground. The fire occurred in rugged, steep and inaccessible terrain, and spread quickly. Several retardant drops from a P-3 Airtanker were required, and the use of retardant was beginning to show results by early evening. As of this morning (7/02) the fire was estimated at 120 acres in brush, grass, and scattered timber. Several resources have been ordered for this incident, including; numerous contract engines, T2 I.A. crews, and medium and heavy helicopters. Some structures were initially threatened, but, continuing air tanker drops secured those buildings at least temporarily.

Bailey Creek Fire

Started By Car Fire location is 34s -8w 13 sec.

fire is in Heavy Timber push by 15 mph winds and fire as two heads north and south from
Bailey Creek.

3 Helicopters
1 Lead plane 51
1 Tanker 21
1 Air Tac


151.145 ODF
159.240 ODF TAC 2
151.310 White net Air to Ground
124.875 Air to Air Helicopter
132.325 Air to Air Tanker
151.340 Red Net

FOUND Kati Kim and daughters

Kati, and daughters are found in Black Bar in Agness Oregon .

James left on Saturday for help...

Kati and Daughter were Airlift to Merill Airport and transport by AMR to TRH

SAR OPS 155.805

Air to Air 123.450

Search For KIM Family in Bear Camp Road

12/04/2006 Grants Pass, Oregon

Josephine and Jackson County SAR Team heading back to Bear Camp Road Area due to Cell phone Id to Glendale Cell Phone Tower.

155.805 SAR Base
154.830 Josephine SO

James Kim Search Move to Josephine County

Look like Search move to Bear Camp Road Area . Road area is a white knuckle drive in the summer, looks like sort cut to Oregon Coast but if you like 30 feet roadway make of hard ball and 10 feet of Snow .....

Josephine SO 154.830
Josephine SAR 155.160
Oregon State SAR 155.805
OSP 155.785
Grants Pass Airport 122.800
Rogue Valley Airport 124.300 App/Dep Tower 119.400

FAA TC 121.400 , 124.650 , 135.150

Family missing after trip to Oregon

A San Francisco couple who took a road trip with their two young daughters to spend Thanksgiving in the Pacific Northwest did not return as expected Monday and are now considered missing.

San Francisco police are asking the public's help in locating James and Kati Kim and their two daughters, Penelope, 4, and Sabine, 7 months. The family was last seen in Portland, Ore., on Saturday.

"It is really unusual for them not to call,'' said Ryan Lee, a longtime friend who had brunch with the family Saturday in Portland. "I don't want to let myself think that they are hurt. Apparently, I was the last person who knows them to see them, which is freaky.''

The Kims told Lee that they planned to stop by a clothing boutique in Portland, then drive to Gold Beach on the southern Oregon coast. They told him they had a hotel reservation there for Saturday night, Lee said.

"That was the last I heard from them,'' he said.

It is not known whether the family showed up at the hotel.

James Kim, 35, a senior editor at CNET, lives with his wife and daughters in Noe Valley. The couple own two small stores in San Francisco -- Doe, a clothing store on lower Haight Street, and the Church Street Apothecary in Noe Valley, which sells baby goods and organic skin care products.

Eva Kim, James' sister in San Francisco, said she last spoke to the family the day before Thanksgiving.

She said the family spent Thanksgiving night in Seattle with James' uncle and aunt, Clint and June Youn.

"We had a turkey dinner -- everybody was happy,'' said Clint Youn by phone Thursday night. "I'm very worried, but I'm waiting for good news. I hope nothing happened.''

Two days later, the family met with Lee for brunch in Portland.

"I hadn't seen them in about a year, so we had a lot to catch up on,'' said Lee, a customer support representative who moved to Portland from San Francisco two years ago. "We sat around and ate brunch and played with the kids. ... Everything was fine. They seemed happy, they talked about someday moving to Portland, getting a change from San Francisco.''

Back in San Francisco, Charlene Wright, an employee of the Apothecary store who was house-sitting for the Kims, had expected to hear from them Monday.

"Normally when Kati is out of town, she calls the store five or more times a day,'' said Wright. "But she didn't call'' Monday.

By Tuesday, Wright began to worry, and Wednesday morning, she filed a missing person's report.

Wright said authorities have told her that the last outgoing calls from the Kims' cell phone were Saturday around 2 p.m.

"Everyone has a theory ranging from the not positive to the overly optimistic,'' said Wright. "The prevailing theory is that they got caught in bad weather and can't phone.''

The Kims were driving a 2005 silver Saab station wagon with a personalized California license plate, "DOESF.''

San Francisco police ask that anyone with information on the family's whereabouts contact Inspector Angela Martin of the Missing Persons Unit at (415) 558-5508, or the operations center at (415) 553-1071.

City of Grants Pass 2 New Fire Stations

17-17 GRANTS PASS
Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,767 53.90
No. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,933 46.10
Total . . . . . . . . . 10,700
Over Votes . . . . . . . . . 3
Under Votes . . . . . . . . . 593

Two new Fire Station one on the Parkway and Redwood and three engines.

BOULDER INCIDENT FIRE

124.075 (BOULDER INCIDENT FIRE)US FOREST SERVICE MEDFORD FIRE CENTER

Oregon State Police Dodge Chargers

The OSP's Patrol Services Division recently purchased 45 2006 Dodge Chargers for patrolling Oregon highways. Forty-three new Dodge Chargers will be marked in the familiar "OSP Blue" body color with bright yellow graphics, door star emblems, and overhead light bars. Two vehicles will be equipped unmarked patrol vehicles as part of the Department's Aggressive Driving Plan program.

Siskiyou National Forest L Street Compound Closed

L street radio shop sign off the air today 2:14 pm 171.3875 .....

75 plus years L street Compound is Closing and moving to Medford Oregon

L Street Compound was built by CCC

Omni Air International Air Tanker

Omni Air International has converted a DC-10 into an aerial tanker. After a successful test, the FAA certified this aircraft for firefighting.

DC-10 backed by an Oklahoma air-charter company, Omni Air International, and fitted with a tank built by Erickson Air-Crane of Central Point.

DC-10 hauls 12,000 gallons of water in a tank strapped to its underside. Conventional air tankers haul up to about 3,000 gallons a flight.