Lifemed Alaska opens new Fairbanks hanger

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - The Fairbanks International Airport has a new hanger on its property designed to help save lives.

LifeMed Alaska cut the ribbon on their new hanger Thursday and welcomed guests to an open house on Saturday. They have been working to build a new hanger for around a year and a half.

Russell Edwards is the Chief Executive Officer at LifeMed Alaska, and said they built the new hanger so they can better serve the community.

The new hanger is much bigger than their old one, allowing them to store all of their aircraft as well as two ground ambulances. It also allows them to be able to move everything around while keeping them warm which is critical during cold winter months when medical fluids can freeze.

The hanger has multiple rooms for pilots, paramedics and flight nurses to sleep in, as well as a training room.

Edwards explained how LifeMed utilizes their aircraft to serve Alaska, saying, “We have the ability to use the King Air to go out to the smaller airstrips around some of the villages, and the jet aircraft to take the longer range flights - possibly bringing a patient from a village back to Fairbanks, and then putting the patient on board one of our jets and flying to Seattle or to Anchorage or wherever we need to get the next level of care for the patient.”

Edwards also told us that last year, the Fairbanks LifeMed base had over 700 transports. The company also has aircraft stationed at bases around the state, and serves thousands of patients a year.

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